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Crime & Safety

Former Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Gets 50 Years for Attempted Rape, Burglary

Ricky Bostic also served as Petaluma police officer.

Former Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Bostic was sentenced to 50 years in prison for attempted rape and burglary convictions in Maryland, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Bostic, who is 44, was hired by the Petaluma Police Department in 1998 before leaving for an eight-year stint as a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy in 2001, the Press Democrat reports. The 44-year-old was the Petaluma Police Department's first African-American patrol officer.

Bostic was convicted for sexually assaulting two women in a May 2012 incident that according to the Sun occurred during a 56-day crime spree last summer in which authorities say he was responsible for another sexual assault and six additional burglaries.

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He was arrested after authorities responded to a report of an attempted break-in, the Sun reports.

Evidence tying Bostic to the crimes included DNA, fingerprints, and a cellphone photo he took of one of his victims while she was asleep, according to the Sun. He was found to be in possession of property reported stolen by his victims that included a laptop computer and gaming systems.

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Bostic's sentencing is the second legal action involving a current or former member of the Petaluma Police Department this week.

On Tuesday, officer Ryan McGreevy pleaded no contest to an alcohol-related reckless driving charge. He was sentenced to two years probation and fined $850.

Bostic's first documented legal troubles began in 2009, when he was sentenced to three years probation for a DUI conviction, according to the report.

He also made headlines in 2005 when he was involved in a tasing incident that left a male suspect dead, the Press Democrat reports. An investigation cleared Bostic of any wrongdoing in that incident, the report said.

Bostic was forced to call it quits from his deputy post for violating a contract with the county pledging sobriety in the aftermath of a previous booze-inspired incident according to the Press Democrat, citing an anonymous sheriff's department source who knew Bostic.

Bostic left Sonoma County for Maryland, where according to the Baltimore Sun he took a job as a hospital security guard.

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