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Lights too bright, take flight, not bright

A Sonoma police officer traveling north on Highway 12, at about 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, noticed a southbound Honda approaching in the gathering gloom of evening with its high beams on. The officer flashed his brights at the car as it drew near, but the driver failed to dim his lights. So the officer did a U-turn to pull the Honda over, but the car sped off, made a rapid right turn on West Thompson Avenue and disappeared.

After searching the neighborhood, the officer found the Honda parked in a driveway on Melody Court. The engine was off but the motor was warm and a neighbor quickly appeared to tell the officer he had seen a man running down nearby Melody Lane.

The officer called for backup and a second patrol car soon arrived and intercepted the fleeing motorist, who was not enthusiastic about surrendering.

After resisting arrest, he was ultimately subdued with a Taser.

A search of the man’s person turned up three bindles of methamphetamine and the keys to the elusive Honda.

Police also discovered that the suspect’s name on his driver’s license differed from the name on other ID, including some credit cards in his wallet. Police solved that riddle when they discovered that the wallet belonged to a Santa Rosa man who said he lost it at a Rincon Valley gas station several months earlier.

The driver, Alvaro Sanchez Ramirez, of the Springs, was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, misappropriation of property, possession of methamphetamine, DUI, a probation violation and driving on a suspended license.He was treated at Sonoma Valley Hospital for bumps and bruises associated with his arrest, and was then booked into the county jail.

In other incidents reported to local law enforcement:

Tuesday, Oct. 23:

10:23 a.m. – A vicious circle? A 13-year-old Altimira Middle School student left school and went to the 7-Eleven store on Railroad Avenue and Boyes Boulevard, where he was accosted by a group of boys who said they were “tired of him talking s***” about them. They knocked the boy to the ground, punched him and kicked him in the backpack.

A witness took video of the incident and showed it to the Altimira principal who took it to police.

The video allowed police to identify two 13-year-old assailants who were subsequently cited for battery and booked into juvenile hall.

Two days later, at about 5 p.m., the victim of the attack was accused by his 12-year-old sister of pushing her into some bushes and punching the sister’s friend in the arm, as they were walking home in the 800 block of Broadway.

Police investigated the incident and ended up charging the 13-year-old brother with battery. He was booked into juvenile hall.

5:36 p.m. – Guilt by association … and possession. A police officer spotted a 30-year-old El Verano man leaving a known gang and drug house on his motorcycle, in the 18000 block of Highway 12. After making a stop, the officer discovered 12 grams of marijuana in the biker’s pants pocket, along with a lump of hashish the size of a pencil erasure.

The suspect was cited and released.

Monday, Oct. 29:

3:43 p.m. – Mad at Dad, smoke a joint at school. A 17-year-old Sonoma Valley High School co-ed was sitting behind the wheel of a Ford Crown Victoria in the south parking lot near the school’s administration office. Several students walked by the car and waved hands in front of their faces as if responding to a bad odor. As a curious campus officer approached the car, the father of the student intercepted him and explained that his daughter had been rebellious and was defying him.

When the officer approached the car he discovered the girl was openly smoking marijuana in a glass pipe with a bag of the herb on the seat beside her. She was cited for smoking and possession of marijuana on a school campus and was released to her father.