Juvenile Arrested in Assault of 18-Year Old Gay Man at El Verano School

The Sonoma Sheriff’s Office released a report today about the March 29 assault at El Verano Elementary, saying that a 17-year old gang member had been arrested for assault and other crimes, including gang participation and a hate crime statute.

The statement, from Sonoma Police Chief Lt. Bret Sackett, followed press reports and inquiries by Patch and others that came in the wake of Kristin Land’s appearance before the Sonoma City Council on April 1, complaining of inadequate response to her son's attack.

The victim was assaulted by a number of presumed gang members at approximately 10:45 PM on March 29, while walking through the school’s campus to meet friends.

Part of Land’s complaint was that Police ignored the “hate crime” element of the incident, since the 18-year old victim is an out homosexual boy. The timeline in today’s press release by the SCSO confirms, “however initial statements made by the victims and witnesses did not suggest his sexual orientation was the motivating factor in the assault.”

In pursuing the investigation, which included taking statements from two of the victim’s friends who were also injured in the assault, the context of the crime took on new life. As the report states,

During the course of the week, detectives from the Sheriff’s Violent Crime Investigation unit, conducted follow-up interviews with the victims and witnesses, where they were able to identify one of the primary aggressors in the initial assault. The follow-up investigation revealed the suspects made sexually derogatory terms prior to and during the assault on the primary victim, which led them to believe the assault was motivated in part by the sexual orientation of the primary victim.

Sonoma Police confirmed that the suspect, a 17-year old El Verano resident, was arrested on following an incident at the Taco Bell on Hwy. 12 in which gunshots were fired.

At the time of the juveile's arrest, he was found to be in possession of the primary victim’s cell phone. He is currently being held without bail.

He was booked into juvenile hall for assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, participation in a criminal street gang, and the hate crime statute. His identity is being withheld due to his age.

Mayor Ken Brown, when asked about the arrest, said his reaction to the arrest was "overwhelmingly positive."

“I have learned to trust Chief Sackett and the Sheriffs we partner with, and know them to be dedicated to bringing people to justice.”

Detectives are following-up on additional leads, and say they are in the process of identifying the other suspects involved in the case.

Anyone with information regarding the investigation should call the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes Investigation unit at 707-565-2185. Please reference case #130402-020

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