Boyes Hot Springs Man Pleads No Contest to Attempted Murder of Austin Ridge

By Bay City News Service

A Sonoma County man pleaded no contest in Sonoma County Superior Court Friday to the attempted murder of a disabled man in Sonoma in April 2012.

Logan Dunning, 23, of Boyes Hot Springs, also admitted he personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim, 28-year-old Austin Ridge, of Sonoma Valley, District Attorney Jill Ravitch said.

Dunning also pleaded no contest to arson of a vehicle in a separate case in Santa Rosa, Ravitch said.

He will be sentenced to 10 years in prison on Nov. 14 as part of his plea agreement. Ravitch said the prosecution entered into the plea agreement "to achieve justice while avoiding the uncertainties and emotional toll of trial."

Ridge, a popular Sonoma Valley resident who rode a specially-equipped bicycle in Fourth of July parades, was found bleeding from stab wounds and a head injury in the 18000 block of Lucas Avenue in Sonoma on April 25, 2012, in Boyes Hot Springs.

He suffered a broken jaw, a fractured nose, head injuries and stab wounds to his arm and torso, Ravitch said.

Santa Rosa police arrested Dunning at the house he shared with his grandmother for the vehicle arson on May 1, a week after Ridge was assaulted.

Dunning became a suspect in Ridge's assault when Santa Rosa police notified the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office the automobile arson suspect lived in the same area as the Ridge assault.

Sheriff's deputies searched Dunning's house and found the knife believed to be used in Ridge's assault. Traces of blood containing DNA evidence also linked Dunning to the assault, sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary said.

Dunning was suspected of committing at least six vehicle arsons in the Santa Rosa area.

In the Lucas Avenue house, police found property, including electronics, currency and sunglasses, that were taken from some of the vehicles before they were set on fire, Santa Rosa police Lt. Mike Lazzarini said.

Several residences in the Valley West Drive, West Third Street and Fulton Road area of Santa Rosa captured images of the arson suspect trying to open doors of vehicles parked in driveways, Lazzarini said.

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