A motorcycle rider from Petaluma remains hospitalized after being struck Sunday morning, Aug. 19, by a hit-and-run driver on Old Redwood Highway in Cotati.

California Highway Patrol officers believe the suspect to be an elderly woman driving a silver, four-door Honda (Civic or Accord) from the early 2000s.

The woman struck the motorcyclist and continued driving as he lay in a drainage ditch with major injuries.

The motorcycle rider, 58-year-old plumbing contractor Jeffrey Asher, was initially taken to Santa Rosa Memorial before being transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. As of Wednesday morning, he remained in stable condition in the intensive-care unit.

The crash occurred at 10:05 a.m., as Asher was heading to meet other motorcyclists for coffee that morning in Cotati. He was on his Harley Davidson, traveling at about 30 mph. According to the CHP, Asher was approaching West Railroad Avenue when the Honda driver sped up to illegally make a pass on the right shoulder.

The left side of the Honda hit the motorcycle, causing Asher to lose control and hit a guardrail.

He was thrown over his handlebars and into a ditch nearly a dozen feet away. Asher's injuries include eight broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and a collapsed lung.

This marks the second time an elderly driver allegedly committed a hit-and-run crime this summer locally. In June, SSU professor Steven A. Norwick died from his injuries after being struck by 68-year-old Ernest Cowart, of Rohnert Park.

This case remains under investigation, and anyone with information is encouraged to call CHP Officer Kerri Post at 588-1400.