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Crime & Safety

High Visibility for Gang Activity In Sonoma Valley in April

Multiple arrests, firearm seizures and felony charges suggest upswing in inter-gang conflict

Gang Crimes in April

In the three weeks since the mother of the 18-year old boy assaulted and robbed at the El Verano School appeared before the Sonoma City Council to plead her case, there had been a strong response from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and others in apprehending gang members allegedly involved in assault, illegal firearms, indecent exposure and hate crimes.

As the Press Democrat reports,

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Detectives have seized more than 15 guns and arrested at least 13 individuals in April for crimes ranging from assault and indecent exposure to robbery and possessing stolen firearms, Sgt. Dave Pedersen said.

A timeline of the incidents and arrests this month shows an acceleration of enforcement, numerous arrests, confiscation of firearms and other police actions follows.

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On March 29, an 18-year old was assaulted by gang members at El Verano Elementary school, who used anti-gay epithets as they beat and robbed him.

 April 1: Kristin Land, a Sonoma real estate agent and the mother of the 18-year old, appeared in the opening Public Comment section of the City Council meeting with her disturbing tale. Clearly emotional, and at times with difficulty, Land described her frustration with official response to what she believed was a hate crime.

April 5: One week after the first incident, three suspects were caught by responding deputies as they ran from the area of a Taco Bell near Maxwell Farms Park. Arrested were Byron Alvarez, a 24-year-old male; Juan Chavarria, a 20-year-old male and an unnamed 17-year-old male, all residents of El Verano.

April 8: The 17-year old male arrested three days earlier was the first to be charged with a “hate crime” for the March 29 assault.

April 9: Next to be arrested was Francisco Emeliano Serna, age 19, from Santa Rosa. He was booked into the Sonoma County jail for assault with force likely to cause serious injury, robbery, participation in a criminal street gang, and the hate crime statute. His bail was set at $475,000.

April 11: Four men were arrested in the southern Sonoma Valley area on gang and firearm and stolen property charges, according to Sgt. Dave Pedersen of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. 

April 19: Five people were arrested after a group was found in Maxwell Park with a bag containing a stolen handgun, the sheriff's office said today. The deputy recognized one person, 18-year-old Jarvis Angel Medel, as an alleged gang member who was present during a robbery and assault at El Verano Elementary School on March 29th.

April 21: Sonoma resident Dilip Kumar Sinha, 51, of Sonoma, was arrested on suspicion of selling a firearm to a convicted felon and knowingly selling a firearm to a gang member. 

The Press Democrat also notes, “Investigators suspect many of the crimes have been committed by members of the same norteño gang, long active in the Sonoma Valley.”

However a recent conversation with Sgt. Dave Pedersen of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office suggests many of the recent arrests stem from a conflict between Norteño gang members into Soreño territory, specifically in the El Verano School area.

Patch will be following up tomorrow with more information from the Sonoma County's MAGNET program, the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Team.

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