800 block of Rancho Way, Petaluma
PETALUMA – According to a Petaluma Police Department (PPD) Press Release issued Wednesday, February 10, five suspects responsible for a home invasion are still at large.
Per the department release, just before 9 PM on Tuesday evening, February 9, a PPD Officer stopped a white Ford pick-up truck near the intersection of Park Lane and Caulfield Lane. The truck was identified as a stolen vehicle out of Concord. Four male subjects immediately fled from the vehicle on foot and began to jump backyard fences.
PPD Officers set up a perimeter and an extensive search was conducted with the assistance of a CHP helicopter. The search was unsuccessful though multiple items of property and clothing were recovered from the yards that the suspects ran through.
In the midst of the search, Officers were called to a house on the 800 block of Rancho Way, just a few blocks away from the scene of the traffic stop. The residents there said that they had just been the victims of a home invasion robbery. They reported that five suspects had entered the home and bound the wrists of the four adults inside with duct tape. There were two females and two males in the home. One of the males had resisted and was cut by a blade knife that one of the suspects was carrying.
The suspects had demanded heroin. It is not known whether they had found or taken any narcotics from the home, but the suspects had loaded property from the home, including a television set into the back of a pick-up truck in front of the residence. Four of the suspects left in the pick-up while the fifth suspect stole a Mustang convertible belonging to the injured victim.
The Mustang was later found on Marian Way, just a few blocks west of the scene. Both the Mustang and the Ford pick-up are being processed for evidence at the PPD.
The suspects did not use force to enter the residence, and there are indications that one or more of the suspects is known to the victims. The four who fled from the pick-up were described as white male adults, and one had a shaved head. It was reported that they also wore masks that partially hid their faces.
The lone injury to the victim was not life threatening. He has been treated and released from a local hospital. No firearms were used or mentioned during the incident.
Additional leads are being pursued and the investigation is on-going. Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact Detective Joel Stemmer at the Petaluma Police Department at 707-778-4532.
