Sonoma police beat: Man attacks teen with baseball bat

A man was arrested on suspicion of child abuse after allegedly hitting a boy with a baseball bat near Sonoma Valley High School, and another man was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory, the sheriff’s office said.

A school employee told police he saw a man with a baseball bat chasing a 15-year-old Sonoma Valley High School student and two older teens south on Broadway around 12:40 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. The man was allegedly yelling for the boys to “give him his money.”

Another caller said he believed he saw the man hit the boy with the bat and then flee south on Broadway in a black Chevrolet pickup truck. The caller followed the Chevrolet in his vehicle and reported the license plate to a sheriff’s dispatcher, sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies stopped the Chevrolet near the intersection of state Highways 121 and 12 and arrested Diego Rosas and Damian Calderon, both 19 and Sonoma residents, the sheriff’s office said.

Rosas was booked in the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of cruelty to child with possible injury or death and violation of probation, and Calderon was booked on suspicion of being an accessory to an offense.

The sheriff’s office said it’s not clear if the boy actually was struck with the bat, and the investigation is continuing.

Reach Janis Mara at janis.mara@sonomanews.com.