Everyone has made mistakes in their lives, but one mistake should not define or destroy one’s life because we all have something to give. Unfortunately, when it comes to interacting with police, one bad choice can spiral to another to another to another. However, this does not mean that this alleviates the police and prosecutors from proving their case, nor does it mean that what is alleged to have happened actually happened. This is what one local is now dealing with now.
The alleged incident and arrest
According to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, deputies pulled over the local man in the early morning hours on Sunday, south of Santa Rosa on Mountain View Avenue. They claim they pulled him over because his exhaust system was “excessively loud.” The deputy also claimed that the local gave a false name and then sped off, crashing into a ditch shortly after. They report that a fight ensued with the local and deputies, which required five deputies to Taser and physically subdue the man. SCSD reported they found drugs after the arrest.
After the arrest
The local man was arrested on multiple charges and taken to the Sonoma County Jail, including felony use of another person’s ID, misdemeanor presenting false ID to police, felony resisting arrest, misdemeanor resisting arrest, felony transporting drugs and felony possession of drugs for sale. In addition, his bail was set extremely high, $100,000
Problematic press release
The press releases from SCSD are problematic. First, they called the man a “suspected drug dealer” without proving it. Second, the man was pulled over for an excessively loud exhaust system, but they did not indicate what that meant. Presumably, that was a subjective finding by the officer, but how many police heard that exhaust system prior and chose not to pull the man over?
As a result, this man’s criminal defense may include trying to get this initial contact thrown out, which would likely invalidate all other charges and evidence found thereafter. The information coming from SCSD demonstrates that reported Sonoma and Napa County criminals seem to be assumed guilty until proven otherwise, which is why it is so important to begin crafting a criminal defense immediately.