Photo: Michael Beltran and Luka Philip Cortina
Several soccer matches brought hundreds of spectators and players to Jacob’s Park in Santa Rosa on the evening of 06/05/2019.
West 9th Street was lined with parked cars belonging to attendees with vehicle owners going to and from their cars as needed.
On this evening, a dark colored SUV made its way to the busy West 9th Street. Someone inside the SUV spotted a 21-year old male walking with friends heading toward Link Lane from West 9th.
The SUV passenger yelled a non-friendly gang statement to the 21-year old pedestrian. The SUV then pulled up the intersection the group was walking toward and one passenger exited the SUV armed with a handgun.
The 21-year old, still walking toward the intersection where the SUV was pulled over, noticed the passenger was armed and took off running. The armed passenger unloaded at least ten rounds in the direction of his intended target, striking him once in the chest. The shooter fled the scene in the SUV heading southbound on Link Lane.
In addition to striking his intended target, the shooter also struck an 11-year old walking to a parked car, a 46-year old unloading soccer equipment from his car, and grazed a 20-year old sitting nearby putting on his cleats. All four victims were treated at the local hospital and are expected to recover.
Santa Rosa Police put 20 detectives on this case. Two days later, they spotted the suspect in a vehicle heading toward Boonville on Highway 128 in Mendocino County. Detectives requested the assistance of Mendocino County Sheriff deputies as this was a high risk traffic stop.
The vehicle was stopped and the shooter was arrested. The 17-year old male’s name is not being released because of his underage status. Two other people in the vehicle were also arrested for aiding the suspected shooter evade police, 23-year old Michael Beltran, and 19-year old Luka Philip Cortina.
The shooter was booked into juvenile hall on four counts of attempted murder and gang related charges.
Beltran and Cortina were booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility for accessory after the fact, gang related charges, and obstructing justice. Both remain in custody at the time of this writing with bail set at $600,000 for each of them.
