Trail of blood at Sonoma Valley burglary leads to cash register

Surveillance video at the gas station showed a man throwing a cinder block through a store window to get inside the business, according to the authorities.|

Blood drops at the scene of a Sonoma Valley gas station burglary led Sonoma County sheriff's deputies to a cash register stowed next to a fence while surveillance video caught the break in, starting with a man throwing a cinder block into a store window, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

An early morning alarm at the Bonneau's 76 gas station at Arnold Drive and Grove Street triggered an alert to the manager of a burglary at the closed business, said sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum in a news release. The station's video surveillance program showed a man in the store removing a register.

Deputies were called at 2:54 a.m. Friday and arrived to find a bleeding man in dark clothing standing behind the store's counter. The man ran from deputies through an opening in a broken window but was stopped on the property.

Deputies spotted a trail of blood leading to the relocated cash register. They suspect the man was attempting to take a second cash register when he was interrupted, Crum said.

Maleek Sanchez, 21, of Sonoma was arrested on suspicion of felony burglary. He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail and released after posting a $10,000 bond.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.

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