Deputies Heard the Shots…
SONOMA COUNTY—The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department arrested two men after a standoff that ending peacefully on the 100 block of Donna Drive of Santa Rosa. Authorities arrested 54-year-old Arnold Eugene Colwell and 43-year-old Salvadore Mendez Jr., both residents of Sonoma County.
Early Tuesday Morning, at 12:40, while responding to a verbal dispute in the Larkfield area of Sonoma County deputies heard what they thought were gunshots. The shots came from the area of Old Redwood Highway and Donna Drive. As they arrived on the scene, deputies observed Colwell holding a double barreled shotgun in his hands and reloading it. The deputy ordered Colwell out of the residence and he was taken into custody.
OK, I know what you are thinking, subject discharged a weapon in his residence and was taken into custody; arrested and booked into county jail for negligently discharging a weapon. End of incident, boring story – but the story does not end there.
Salvadore Mendez (Facebook)
Leaving the shotgun behind, Colwell was taken in to custody, but the deputies noticed a second man in the residence, later identified as Salvadore Mendez. Well, here is where the story takes a turn from boring to interesting. The two deputies repeatedly ordered Mendez out of the residence, but he refused to leave.
After the numerous attempts, the deputies were left with no choice but to call for the Special Operations Unit. At about 1:40 in the morning the standoff began. It was not until three in the morning that the Special Operations Unit took control of the incident and tried to make contact with Mendez.
At 4:10 in the morning contact was established with Mendez and he was directed to exit the residence. This time, he cooperated with the Sheriff’s Department and was taken into custody without further incident.
Deputies found the double barreled shotgun in the living room along with several other firearms. The home is Cowell’s residence, but Mendez was listed as a transient, and may have been lodging there. Mendez was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on an outstanding DUI warrant, along with resisting or obstructing officers, drug possession, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cowell was also charged with resisting arrest, being under the influence, and negligent discharge of a firearm.
