PETALUMA – On Wednesday night at approximately 10:30 pm, Petaluma Police received a 911 call that had been transferred from the California Highway Patrol. The caller said that she was the victim of a violent assault that had taken place in the 1800 block of Castle Drive. When officers arrived at the residence they learned that the suspect had already fled the area on foot.
Police were summonded to this upscale Petaluma neighborhood on a domestic violence call.
Investigating officers learned that the suspect had gotten into an argument with the victim, became angry and then violently assaulted her. The victim was strangled, and her cell phone was forcibly taken from her.
Officers also learned that the suspect had two outstanding warrants that involved being a felon in possession of a firearm. Based on the current assault and the previous warrants Petaluma Police deployed a K-9 (Basko) in the area to locate the suspect. The CHP’s helicopter was also requested to assist in the search.
The CHP’s helicopter alerted ground officers of a subject fleeing the area in a creek towards Adobe Road. The K-9 unit and officers were directed to an area on Adobe Road near Sonoma Mountain Road.
Two views of the Adobe Road bridge (Google Maps)
Officers arrived in the area shortly after the CHP helicopter radioed that they last saw the suspect going under a roadway bridge. The K-9 unit and officers then located the suspect who had climbed up under the bridge and concealed himself in a small crawl space. The suspect refused to comply with officers repeated commands. A Taser was successfully deployed and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident.
The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Warren Haley of Auburn, California. He has also reported residing in the same house on Castle Drive, as well as an address in Santa Rosa.
He had previously been arrested in September for possession of drug paraphernalia, and in June for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and for resisting arrest. In that incident, according to the Press Democrat, he was wanted for an outstanding warrant, and engaged law enforcement in an extensive search, also involving a helicopter, before being taken into custody.
Earlier records show arrests in 2007 and 2008 for possession of firearms, illegal drugs and paraphernalia, and giving false information to an officer. A 2009 story in the Press Democrat reported that he had been wanted then on domestic violence and parole violations, but he managed to elude the police, SWAT team, and K-9 units who surrounded and eventually entered the Castle Avenue home on September 16. Despite being seen headed toward the location, he managed to escape capture. They reported his history of firearms violations, and was wanted for battery, stalking, burglary, false imprisonment, and other charges related to the domestic violence charge.
According to court records, while still wanted by police, on September 23 he initiated another attack on his wife at a mutual friend’s home. He had asked her to come there, and then violently attacked her, including throwing her on a couch and choking her several times. The friend said that he too was in fear of Haley’s anger and his gun. He was captured at the friend’s house the next day.
He later pleaded no contest to the charges against him, and was sentenced to six years in prison. His sentence was suspended to one year with the agreement to participate in treatment programs and to honor a court order to have no contact with the victim. He eventually violated his terms and was found to be using methamphetamine, and was sent back to prison. He gained an early release due to AB 109 provisions to ease overcrowding. It is unlikely he will get the same breaks this time around.
Haley was booked into the Sonoma County Jail for this latest incident on charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury, robbery, resisting arrest, and outstanding warrants.
Read More:
Press Democrat: Search ends in arrest of wanted convict in Santa Rosa
PACH/Press Democrat: Petaluma police find home empty after six-hour standoff
CrimeVoice staff contributed to this report
