Email  Print

Spending New Year’s in Juvie Hall

Last year didn’t end well for a 17-year-old Sonoma youth who found himself welcoming the New Year in juvenile hall.

Shortly after midnight on Monday, Dec. 31, a patrolling Sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull over a van he witnessed driving at excessive speed and swerving on Riverside Drive near Petaluma Avenue. When the van eventually stopped, two males ran from the vehicle, leaving a third behind who didn’t try to flee. A search of the van turned up a set of brass knuckles.

The deputy traced the ownership of the van, and when other deputies responded to the stop, they found a young man trying to hide in a nearby carport. He was detained and turned out to be the van’s owner, with the key to the vehicle in his possession.

The 17-year-old Sonoma youth was arrested on charges of felony possession of brass knuckles and misdemeanor resisting an officer. He was booked into juvenile hall. The young man who had chosen not to run from the deputies was released.

In other incidents reported recently to Valley law enforcement:

Friday, Dec. 28:

7 a.m. – No alarm, but no entry. An attempted burglary was reported at the Kenwood Market in the 8900 block of Highway 12. Someone broke the front door glass, but since there was Plexiglass behind the glass, the thief wasn’t able to make entry. In preparation for the unsuccessful attempt, the suspect cut the cable so the alarm wouldn’t sound.

10:34 a.m. – $6,000 BB damage? An employee at a construction site in the 300 block of Fifth Street West noticed that some ducting appeared to have been shot with a BB gun. Upon further examination, some of the wooden siding on the wall of the building also had small dents that appeared to be made with BBs. Deputies looked at the trajectory and paid a visit to a home in the 500 block of Joaquin Drive that backed into the building. The resident said his son indeed had a BB gun, but that his son and his girlfriend’s son were just shooting at targets on the back fence. The 10-year-old son admitted, however, that they also shot at the building. Because of the difficulty in replacing the wooden panels, the damage estimate was between $4,000 and $6,000.

7 p.m. – No to the money and the car, and now no jewelry. A resident in the 300 block of Second Street East reported that several pieces of jewelry were found missing on Dec. 16, after her troubled daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend barged into her house and demanded money and the woman’s car. The woman refused to give the pair either the money or her car, they left, and were subsequently arrested later on the morning of Dec. 16, in a supermarket parking lot on drug charges.The victim suspected the two in the theft of her jewelry, but could not explain why she waited nearly two weeks to report the loss.

Saturday, Dec. 29:

6:32 a.m. – Assault and child endangerment. Sonoma officers were called to a residence in the 600 block of Broadway on the report of a domestic disturbance. A woman living there told officers her husband had come home at about 3:30 a.m., drunk and upset that a visitor from out of the country was at the residence. A verbal altercation turned physical and the intoxicated husband reportedly hit his wife in the face twice.

He then left the residence, but returned at about 6 a.m. to find that the woman had packed a suitcase, locked it and refused to give the man the key. The man grabbed a hammer and tried to pry the suitcase open. The wife told officers she had become fearful for her safety since moving here about a year-and-a-half ago. She told officers that not only did her husband beat her, but he also beat their daughter. After issuing an emergency protective order, the officers arrested the 51-year-old man on charges of felony domestic assault with injury and felony child endangerment, and transported him to jail.

4 p.m. – iPhones, credit cards and passports. Visitors to a winery in the 14000 block of Highway 12 in Glen Ellen reported that, while they were in the winery, someone got into their locked vehicle and stole two iPhones, an iPad and a purse containing credit cards and passports. Shortly thereafter, the victims learned that someone had already charged $15 to Panda Express.

5:18 p.m. – A really big purse? A resident in the 300 block of El Castillo Vista told Sonoma police officers that, when she returned home the previous evening, while unloading her vehicle she accidently dumped her purse on the floorboard. She thought she had retrieved everything, but the next day noticed that her vehicle had been ransacked and, along with her keys, she was missing a jack and some jumper cables. The jack and jumper cables had presumably not been inside her purse.

6:52 p.m. – We know who you are, but what did you do? A resident in the 300 block of Las Casitas Court told officers that he found someone’s identification – belonging to a person known to the police – in his garage. Nothing appeared to be out of place.

8:42 p.m. – A very easy arrest. An officer on patrol made an opportune DUI arrest when a motorist inexplicably turned into the Sheriff’s substation on Grove Street before the officer even activated his flashers. The errant motorist, who had been behind the officer on Arnold Drive with her bright lights on, turned onto Grove and the officer fell in behind her, observing her swerving all over the road. After she pulled into the substation parking lot the officer approached and noticed a strong odor of alcohol perfuming her breath. She told the officer she had consumed just two glasses of wine, but she not only failed the field sobriety tests, the officers cut the tests short because the woman was too intoxicated. She blew a .20 and a .19 on the breath test and the 49-year-old San Anselmo woman was arrested on charges of DUI.

Sunday, Dec. 30:

7 a.m. – Dude, where’s my car (top)? A resident in the 19000 block of Railroad Avenue reported that sometime overnight, someone stole the hardtop from her Mazda Miata. The loss was set at $1,000.

7:43 a.m. – Stealing citrus. A resident in the 900 block of Manor Avenue reported that sometime overnight, someone dug up three citrus trees on the property. The trees, an orange, a key lime and a lemon tree, were about 5-feet-tall and were bearing fruit. The loss was estimated at $200.

1:30 p.m. – Expensive garage heist. A resident in the 17000 block of Riverside Drive reported that sometime between Dec. 25 and Dec. 30, someone got into an unlocked garage and stole a $3,000 bike and $700 worth of tools.

5 p.m. – Post-Christmas burglary. A resident of the 200 block of Specht Road told Sheriff’s deputies that between Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, someone broke into and ransacked the residence, taking a 50-inch flat screen TV, a PlayStation and antique rings. The loss was set at $3,100.

6 p.m. – Theft from truck. A resident in the 800 block of Walnut Avenue told deputies that sometime between Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, someone stole various items from the interior of their truck and stole a bike from the truck bed. There was no estimate on the loss.

Monday, Dec. 31:

11:30 a.m. – Gone from the porch. A resident in the 1300 block of Lubeck Street reported that sometime between Dec. 20 and Dec. 31, a blue girls cruiser bike valued at $50 was stolen from the porch.

Tuesday, Jan. 1:

4:30 a.m. – Pay no attention to that man on the roof. Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area around Myrtle and Orchard avenues on a report that a 19-year-old man had been jumped and beaten-up. The teen told deputies he was walking down the street when he was jumped by a couple of males. The victim knew where one of his attackers lived, so deputies paid the man a visit. When they knocked on the door, an intoxicated man answered. While chatting with him, the deputies noticed a man on the roof who subsequently admitted to hitting the victim, knocking several teeth loose. The man on the roof, David Garcia, 25, of the Springs, was arrested on charges of felony assault with bodily injury, and was booked into the county jail.

Wednesday, Jan. 2:

7:37 a.m. – Dude, where’s my bean bag chair? A resident in the 700 block of Second Street East reported that sometime between Dec. 28 and Jan. 2, a package was delivered by UPS, had been opened, and someone had taken the $139 white furry, bean-bag chair and left the box behind.