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The high cost of losing your cell phone

 

A 15-year-old Sonoma Valley High student learned the hard way that losing your cell phone can be a major hassle.

When the young man's phone was turned in, the school resource officer called a number that connected him to the youth's mother to tell her about finding the phone. At the same time, the officer noticed a text message that read, "I've got $5. Did you bring the brownie?"

When the owner showed up to claim his phone, the officer searched the kid's backpack and found a small bud of marijuana. The officer then called in the student who wanted to make the purchase and found the referenced brownie.

Both the 15-year-old cellphone owner and the 14-year-old former-brownie owner were cited for possession of marijuana on school grounds and the case was turned over to the Youth and Family Services diversion program.

In other incidents reported to the Sonoma Police Department:

Tuesday, Aug. 9:

2:16 p.m. - Knives and drugs, oh my. When Sonoma police spotted a car with expired tags on Highway 12 at Ramon Street, they made a traffic stop and discovered the 36-year-old driver was on searchable probation with a clause prohibiting the possession of any weapons. A search revealed two knives in the man's pockets, and that discovery inspired police to search the man's home, where they found two smoking pipes, a digital scale and .2 grams of methamphetamine. The Sonoma resident was booked into county jail on charges of parole violation, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

3:22 p.m. - The case of the flying safe. Police received a call from a West Napa Street business owner who reported that someone had tossed a metal safe over the fence into his parking lot from the adjoining backyard of a home on West Spain Street. The safe had broken open spilling unspecified contents onto the parking lot. When police investigated, they found a door open in a West Spain Street home across the fence from the business parking lot, but no sign of forced entry. The resident told police a rear sliding glass door had been left open to allow two dogs access to the home. Missing from the house, the resident said, was an antique watch collection worth $1,000, and some junk jewelry. Witnesses reported seeing two men fleeing the scene in a white pick-up truck. It was not clear why they threw the safe over the fence, but it and its contents were retrieved by police and returned to the owner.

Wednesday, Aug. 10:

7:06 p.m. - Don't block traffic with a stolen computer. A patrolling police officer saw a 2008 Toyota Yaris partially blocking traffic in the 500 block of Grove Street. Behind the wheel they found 41-year-old Preston Hudspeth, of Boyes Hot Springs, who happened to be on searchable probation. The ensuing search turned up a laptop computer reported stolen in Penngrove, along with an elephant pendant, also reported stolen. Hudspeth also had in his possession a wristwatch and an iPod police suspected might have been stolen as well.

Hudspeth was charged with felony possession of stolen property, driving on a suspended license and an outstanding warrant. He was booked into the county jail.

Friday, Aug. 19:

8:40 a.m. - Uncivil disobedience? A 50-year-old Malet Street resident who was protesting some trenching for a new West MacArthur subdivision being built on property adjoining his backyard, was arrested after he blocked the way for some heavy equipment. When police repeatedly ordered the man to leave the site he refused and was placed under a citizen's arrest for trespassing. But he also refused to cooperate with police and struggled as they tried to handcuff him. Officers then had to take him to the ground, after which the man refused to walk to the squad car. So the officers carried him cuffed to the squad car and booked him into the county jail on charges of trespassing and obstructing or resisting a police officer.

10:40 p.m. - A rising tide of BAC. A Sonoma police officer stopped a speeding vehicle on East MacArthur at Broadway and noticed that the driver seemed to be impaired. The motorist blew a .139 on the Preliminary Alcohol Screening, and then blew a .15 and a .16 at the police department, indicating his blood alcohol was continuing to rise. He was cited for driving under the influence and released to his wife.

Saturday, Aug. 20:

8:50 p.m. - A two-fer. While on routine patrol in the vicinity of Joaquin Drive and the bike path, a police officer noticed a pair of 20-somethings who appeared to be drinking. The two men dropped their 24-ounce cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, but the damage was done. The officer found that one of the men, a 28-year-old Springs resident was on probation, the terms of which required him to obey all laws. Since drinking on public property outside the Plaza and Depot Park, is illegal he was not obeying the law. In addition to the charge of drinking in public, therefore, he was also arrested for violating his probation. His 28-year-old imbibing buddy was simply charged with drinking in public.

Sunday, Aug. 21:

2:32 a.m. - Illegal mumbling. Officers were called to a dispute at Steiner's Tavern where a 25-year-old Springs man told officers he had left his keys in the bar and that, when he returned to collect them, the bouncer pushed him. The bouncer had a slightly different version of events, and told police that the man refused to leave, that he was mumbling incoherently and that he merely touched the man and pointed him toward the door.

The officer tested the mumbler's breath for intoxication, but the reading came out .0. The man's girlfriend then told the officer that her boyfriend had been abusing prescription drugs lately. Officers escorted the man to the hospital for a blood draw and then arrested him on charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance and the false report of a crime to a police officer.

Tuesday, Aug. 23:

6:41 a.m. - Dealer Dude, where's my truck? A man who left his pickup truck at Sonoma Chevrolet for a consignment sale, passed the dealership and noticed his vehicle was no longer on the lot. The dealer still had the keys but the truck had gone missing sometime between Aug. 19 and Aug. 22.

Wednesday, Aug. 24:

3:04 pm. - He hit, she hit. A husband and wife both went to jail as mutual combatants after officers were called to an argument at a residence in the 500 block of White Briar Drive. The pair, who have been married for 10 years, argued about gambling and drug issues. Both showed injuries, so the officers arrested both the 39-year-old male and the 36-year-old female on charges of felony domestic violence.

3:33 p.m. - Dude, where's my mascara? A resident of the 700 block of Austin Avenue reported that her purse had been taken from her unlocked BMW that was parked in her driveway. The driver's side door was standing open and the purse was gone when the woman looked. In the purse, were debit and credit cards and $300 in cosmetics.

Thursday, Aug. 25:

8:20 a.m. - Is nothing sacred? Police are investigating the theft of several belongings from a Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority vehicle that was parked at a private residence. The thief took a GPS system, a satellite radio head, a city AED (automated external defibrillator) system, a jacket and a fuel card and tried, but failed, to remove a fire radio from the center console. The fire department employee told officers he thought he had locked the vehicle, but there was no sign of forced entry.

10:37 a.m. - Booze, bong, late to class. Officers contacted a 15-year-old Springs resident when the teen showed up two hours late at Gateway School. The teen was then taken to the district office when he failed an attitude test. His mother was called and she told the school resource officer that her son had returned late the night before and that she found a 1.75 liter bottle of tequila and a bong in her son's backpack. The teen was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol and being a minor in possession of tobacco paraphernalia.

11:55 a.m. - Goodbye to FasTrak. A resident in the 200 block of Second Street East reported that someone entered his vehicle and took a FasTrak transponder, a mailbox key and an insurance card. He didn't have an exact date for when the items went missing.

12:56 p.m. - No DUI? An inebriated 60-year-old bicyclist was arrested on charges of public intoxication after a solo bike crash. Officers who responded found that when the man tried to stand up, he fell over. He was arrested for public intoxication.

8:55 p.m. - Oldies but goodies. A resident in the 100 block of Guadalupe Drive reported that sometime overnight, someone entered his unlocked car, ransacked it and took a pair of 30-year-old Nikon binoculars.