Annual Petaluma parade marred by arrests
PETALUMA – While 25,000 to 30,000 folks enjoyed Petaluma’s 30th annual Butter and Egg Day Parade on Saturday, city police chased down nearly 70 calls for service during the alcohol-fueled event.
Officers arrested 14 people, reported Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons. Five people were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Police arrested 28-year-old Petaluman Ryan Terzian around 4:30 p.m. April 16 on Kentucky Street for fighting in public. Several police units were called out because of the large crowd that gathered to watch the arrest that led to Terzian’s booking in Sonoma County jail.
Shortly after, Robert Drips, 28, was arrested at Kentucky and Washington streets and jailed for possession of marijuana for sale.
Only 10 minutes later, police were called out to Center Park to break up a fight. When they arrived the fight was over and the subjects were gone.
About the same time, other officers responded to a report of a man driving over a row of bushes as he took off from the Galland Street area. Police stopped the car going north on Petaluma Boulevard at Shasta Avenue, only to find a woman, Jacquelyn Braun, 31, of Rohnert Park, was driving. The passenger, Peter Halikas, 29, of Rohnert Park was later identified by the witness as the driver who drove over the bushes. Both Halikas and Braun were tested and booked for DUI.
At 5:23 p.m. police encountered a group of intoxicated men making a disturbance in the area of 4th Street at D Street. Among them was Joel Grodivant, 21, of Petaluma who was arrested for a $15,000 outstanding warrant and booked into county jail.
An hour later a Petaluma police officer was conducting a traffic stop on Washington Street at the Golden Eagle Shopping Center when a group of intoxicated men walked by, among them Christopher Haller. The 22-year-old Novato man ran up and punched the vehicle the officer had stopped for an unrelated traffic violation. Haller was arrested for public intoxication and booked into jail.
Minutes later a citizen reported an intoxicated male sitting on the curb at Petaluma Boulevard and I Street appearing in danger of falling into the traffic lanes. When police arrived, the man told police he had realized he was too drunk to get home and had already called a sober friend to pick him up.
At 7:12 p.m. two males were walking on top of cars and urinating in public in the area of 2nd and B streets. Devin Chatoian, 31, was arrested for public intoxication and transported to the county jail.
Also that night police arrested and jailed Petaluma resident Anthony Largo, 31, at the Keller Street Parking Garage for creating a disturbance and being too intoxicated to care for himself.
After 9 p.m. that night police arrested two men for slashing tires in the area of Oak and Liberty streets. Mark Ferris, 18, of Petaluma and Eric Wahl, 25, of Santa Rosa were booked for felony vandalism.
A few participants in the Butter and Egg Day Parade were arrested for DUI, among them Paul McNamara, 43, as he was towing a horse trailer on Petaluma Boulevard near Kent Street.
Lt. Lyons reported that efforts to curb the alcohol-related problems that have become a regular part of the celebration have helped but not solved the annual rowdiness. There were 68 calls for police to the downtown area between 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Petaluma Downtown Association, which organizes the annual event, will meet to discuss solutions to the problems.
