Robbery, stabbing make for busy Friday night

SANTA ROSA – Between an armed robbery and a stabbing, last Friday evening proved to be a busy one forthe Santa Rosa Police Department.

A 22-year-old man visiting Santa Rosa from Oregon was welcomed to the town by two gunmen when he and an 18-year-old Santa Rosan walked out of the McDonald’s restaurant on Mendocino Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Jan. 21.

As the two drew near their vehicle in the parking lot, two male suspects approached them.  One pulled out a handgun and demanded that the 22-year-old give up his wallet.  After the victim surrendered his wallet, the suspect snagged the visitor’s luggage out of the car’s open trunk and the two fled with their booty.

The victim provided descriptions of the two men to police, describing one as a dark-complexioned black male of 18 or 19, around 5-foot-6, 140 lbs. with black hair in shoulder length dreadlocks and brown eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt, khaki Dickies-style pants and a black and white baseball style cap with flat brim at the time of the theft. He was armed with a black revolver-style handgun.

The lighter-complexioned black male was 23 to 24-years-old, about 6-foot-4, 180 lbs, with a shaved bald head, green eyes and tattoos around the bottom of his eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt during the crime.

“No one was injured during the incident,” said Sgt. David Linscomb.

Later that same Friday, at about 6:53 p.m., authorities responded to a stabbing on Russell Avenue. Upon their arrival, officers found a 65-year-old Santa Rosa man with stab wounds to his abdomen and hand.

“He described the man with whom he had had a fight and was then was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening stab wounds,” said Sgt. Steve Fraga.

Officers found the suspect, 39-year-old Santa Rosa resident Jose D. Inman Mendoza, in front of his residence in the 900 block of Russell Avenue, and took Mendoza into custody without incident. Detectives from the Violent Crime Investigations Team executed a search warrant on Mendoza’s residence as part of the investigation.

Mendoza was later transported and booked into the Sonoma County jail for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse.