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Mother and son reunion...in jail

 

There is, apparently, no limit to a mother's love.

That's what a Sheriff's deputy learned June 25 after responding to a domestic disturbance call from a home on Waterman Avenue. The mother in question complained that her 19-year-old son was causing a disturbance and she apparently feared for her safety. Once dispatch reported the youth's name, the deputy remembered the young man from prior contacts and knew he was on searchable probation with a no-alcohol clause.

Upon arrival at the home, the deputy immediately heard yelling from inside and could see the son through a window standing over his mother who appeared to be cowering on a sofa.

The deputy entered the home and ordered the son to put his arms behind his back.

The son did not respond. The deputy ordered him again, and again the son ignored the deputy, who then reached out, grasped an arm and prepared to cuff the son.

But the son spun around, attempted to resist the restraint and the two toppled onto the sofa, with the deputy on top.

At that point the deputy pulled out his Taser, leveled its laser sight on the young man's chest and warned that he would fire the weapon if the son did not comply. The son ignored the command, the officer fired and the twin barbs of the device struck the son in the chest, whereupon the mother jumped forward and began trying to pull the weapon's wires loose.

The deputy then pulled off the propellant cartridge and used the weapon's electric charge to "dry stun" the son with direct contact.

The mother, who had presumably initiated the call seeking protection from her son, then began beating the deputy on the back in an effort to protect her son as the officer cuffed him.

The family drama drew to a close as both mother and son were charged with obstruction of justice.

The son, who was on both misdemeanor and felony probation, was given a field alcohol breath test and blew a .157 along with adherence to the terms of his probations. He was charged with two counts of probation violation and one count of misdemeanor obstruction of justice.

The 46-year-old mother was charged with one count of felony obstruction of justice.

The son was taken to Sonoma Valley Hospital where the Taser barbs were removed and he received medical clearance. Both mother and son were booked into the county jail.

In other incidents reported to local law enforcement:

10:49 p.m. - The high cost of cheap booze. It was a typical teen caper gone woefully awry when a witness who had just finished locking up the gate at the Sonoma Aquatic Club spotted three juveniles trying to jump the fence. The witness called the facility's owner, who called Sheriff's deputies who responded to find two girls and one 13-year-old boy near the gate to the center, with one of the girls lying on the ground too drunk to stand up.

The boy explained that they had intended to go swimming, the 16-year-old girl on the ground periodically yelled and the 14-year-old girl burst into tears and begged the deputy not to call her mom.

When the officer asked how much the three had to drink, the 16-year-old said, "A lot," the boy said, "I'm drunk," and the 14-year-old didn't answer. In her backpack, however, the deputy found a 1.75 liter bottle of Crown Russe vodka and a one-liter bottle of fruit punch.

Crown Russe, for the uninitiated, is a very cheap adult beverage made in Kentucky and popular among college students by virtue of its price, which is almost as low as its quality. It is sold in handled-jugs, although the investigating deputy was not able to ascertain where the teens acquired it.

When the teen tipplers were given breath alcohol tests the boy blew a .131,the 14-year-old girl registered a .06 and the 16-year-old was too drunk to complete the exercise.

All three were transported to Sonoma Valley Hospital for medical evaluation where the 16-year-old was subsequently released to the custody of her mother while the other two were booked into juvenile hall on charges of trespassing, public intoxication, being minors in possession of alcohol and vandalism to a lifeguard's chair that was damaged when they apparently tried to move it.