I would like to give a shout out to the Sebastopol Police Department for being on top of handling a series of four recent violent events in our community. Barry has just posted an article from the PD highlighting the Sebastopol community's relative ignorance of these occurrence. As one Sebastopol area resident, I appreciate that our community police officers made arrests in every one of these situations.
The behavior of the young people, in each of these four incidences, was TOTALLY UNCOOL. A person in Ives Park was shot. SHOT! In Ives Park.
At 3:20 in the afternoon.
Let's please acknowledge two things:
1) Police officers have a thankless job, but when you need them, you really need them. Thankfully, they are on the job 24/7 working for all of us to make our community safer.
2) It is disturbing to hear that some young people from our community were compelled to participate in this kind of violent and dangerous activity. What can we do -- as a community -- so that this these young people feel more engaged to participate in a creative process of forming their own future in a more positive way?
These recent events speak to the heart of who we are as a community.
Scott McKeown
A week of violence in Sebastopol puts the focus on gang activity
By RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 6:29 p.m.
Two Sebastopol teens were in custody Wednesday, suspected of attempted murder for firing a shotgun into a group of teens and young adults at a downtown park Tuesday afternoon.
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The shooting culminates a week of violence in the west county town that is putting the focus on suspected gang activity.
“The level of violence we're having...the shotgun (shooting) tops off the week,” Sgt. Mike Nielsen said.
Crimes have been reported in the downtown area and at least half of the crimes have gang members as suspects.
In the shooting, one 23-year-old Sebastopol man suffered wounds to his arm and body from the shotgun pellets, all minor injuries Sgt. Mike Nielsen said.
A motive for the Ives Memorial Park shooting remained under investigation Wednesday.
Other incidents include a sexual assault at Analy High School a week ago Wednesday night.
Last Thursday four south county gang members were stopped in a stolen car and were discovered carrying weapons; one wore a ski mask.
Saturday a gang member under the influence of alcohol allegedly took a dry wall hatchet to a parked police patrol car.
Arrests were made in each case.
Tuesday's incident was the only one involving gunfire. At about 3:20 p.m. a black Scion drove into the parking lot of the Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building, adjacent to the park, a redwood tree-studded area on the west side of downtown Sebastopol.
A shotgun blast was fired from the car toward parked cars and a group of teens and young adults hanging out on the grass, Nielsen said.
People scattered and police were called.
Information led officers to the home of Alexander Protassieff, 18, at about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, where he was arrested. Just before 5 a.m., officers arrested a 17-year-old at his Sebastopol home.
Officers also located a 2006 Scion believed to have been driven by the shooters, Nielsen said.
Protassieff was taken to Sonoma County Jail without bail. The juvenile went to Sonoma County Juvenile Hall. Police did not release his name because of his age.
In the earlier crimes, a 17-year-old girl walking to her car at Analy Dec. 2 following a school band concert was attacked, police reported. They arrested Joshua James Simon, 18, of Sebastopol who was arraigned on several charges including assault to commit rape.
Late Thursday night, two teens from Rohnert Park and two from Petaluma, ages 17 and 16, were stopped driving the wrong way on a one-way downtown Sebastopol street.
The Mercedes Benz they were travelling in had been stolen from Rohnert Park, Nielsen said.
A search of the car turned up a concealed dagger, metal knuckles and pepper spray.
They were arrested on several charges including suspicion of car theft, possessing dangerous weapons and participating in a criminal street gang.
They were taken to juvenile hall.
At about 4 p.m. Saturday, a young man with a sweatshirt wrapped around his head smashed windows of a Sebastopol patrol car with a roofing hatchet.
Officers found Sebastopol resident Carlos Remigio Onofre, 19, in the area and arrested him on suspicion of felony vandalism. He was suspected of being drunk at the time and told officers he had attacked the car because of his gang affiliation, Nielsen said.
Onofre remained in jail Wednesday in lieu of $12,500 bail.
Nielsen asked anyone with information regarding the shooting to contact officers at 829-4400.