A rare and dramatic shootout in the wee hours Monday morning in southwest Santa Rosa — between Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies and a local middle-aged man with an AK-47, whom they were chasing — left the suspect dead and four deputies injured, according to police investigators. The Santa Rose Police Department has been tasked with getting to the bottom of what happened that night along Todd and Stony Point roads, since the Sheriff’s Office was the agency involved. “SRPD detectives have identified the suspect as Jose Luis Villasenor Cervantes, a 53-year-old resident of Santa Rosa,” the police department posted on Facebook yesterday. “Cervantes was in possession of an AK-47 style rifle when a deputy investigating a firearm brandishing call attempted to contact him. Cervantes exited his vehicle and immediately began firing at the deputy. The deputy was able to return fire. Additional deputies responded to the area and were also immediately fired upon by Cervantes. It is estimated that Cervantes fired numerous 7.62x39mm rifle rounds at the deputies before returning to his vehicle and engaging the deputies in a vehicle pursuit.” And then: “Following the initial assault on the deputies, the suspect led deputies on a pursuit which ended in a collision in the 3200 block of Stony Point Road. Four deputies were injured during this incident, one critically, and the suspect died at the scene of the collision due to a yet-to-be-determined cause.” In the aftermath of this “explosion of violence just west of Santa Rosa,” the Press Democrat published a photo of some sentimental items “left at the site where vehicles involved in a chase and shooting with Sonoma County Sheriffs Deputies crashed into a fence along Stony Point Road, between Todd Road and Butler Avenue” — including some yellow flowers, a candle and a colorful tub of Colombia Supremo Coffee from Trader Joe’s. “The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has not yet released the name of the deputies involved in yesterday’s incident or body camera footage,” the PD reports. “There was no update on the deputies’ status as of Tuesday afternoon.” (Source: Santa Rosa Police via Facebook & Sonoma Sheriff via Facebook & Press Democrat; paywall)
FOLLOW US
