Man arrested after reportedly holding people hostage, standing off against police in Santa Rosa
Originally published 1-20-22 via Facebook
by Santa Rosa Police:
“On Thursday, January 20th, 2022, at 1:22 a.m., Santa Rosa Police Officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Apple Creek Lane for a male subject inside an apartment brandishing a large knife and holding several individual’s hostage. The reporting party, who had called 9-1-1 from a separate residence in the Sacramento area, was currently on an open phone line with tenants inside the apartment. The male suspect, heard inside the home, was identified as Jarrett Cole, a 25-year-old resident from El Dorado County. Cole had been brought to the apartment earlier in the evening by an acquaintance.
Responding officers learned that Cole was actively threatening to burn the apartment down and making threats to kill everybody inside. One of the tenants was able to call the reporting party without Cole’s knowledge and leave the open phone line as officers responded to the scene. Through the open phone line, the reporting party could hear Cole acting aggressively, making threats, and referring to himself as “God.” Cole would not allow the tenants to leave, move within the home, or communicate with their phones. There was a total of four other individuals’ home inside the apartment at the time, including a five-year-old child in a rear room.
When officers arrived on scene, they surrounded the apartment. Within moments, a female resident opened the front door and threw a large knife out onto the lawn area. The female victim had gained control of the knife after Cole began physically fighting with another male victim inside the home. Cole quickly exited the upstairs apartment and engaged officers along the stairway. The female tenant was able to run back into the apartment after officers yelled and instructed her to lock her door. Cole stood along the upper stairway and began making threats to kill every officer on scene. Cole displayed signs of being under the influence of narcotics and did not have any weapons in his hands at the time. Officers maintained a short distance as they negotiated with Cole for approximately fifteen minutes to deescalate the situation and have him surrender peacefully.
At one point, Cole again stated he was going to kill officers on scene and took steps off the stairway towards them. Given Cole’s threatening behavior and immediate threat towards officers, he was struck one time with a less-lethal foam round to his upper front torso to assist in apprehending him. Cole was quickly handcuffed and given immediate attention by medical personnel staging at the scene. Cole continued to resist officers while being placed onto a gurney and was ultimately treated at a local hospital for minor injuries sustained during his apprehension. Additionally, Cole was found to have a small amount of methamphetamine on his person.
During follow-up interviews with the victim tenants, it was discovered that Cole had held them hostage inside the home for approximately two hours leading up to police arrival. Cole stabbed a television inside the home with the large knife, made threats to hurt the small child, punched a dog in the head, and attempted to move a tenant towards a vehicle outside at knife point to flee the area. He was later booked into Sonoma County Jail for the following charges:
• 236 PC – False Imprisonment – Felony
• 245(a)(1) PC – Assault with a Deadly Weapon – Felony
• 69 PC – Obstruct / Threaten Executive Officer – Felony
• 11377 (a) HS – Possession of a Controlled Substance – Misdemeanor
• 242 PC – Battery – Misdemeanor
• 207 PC – Kidnapping – Felony
• 422 PC – Criminal Threats – Felony
• 597(a) PC – Animal Cruelty – Felony
• 594(b)(1) PC – Vandalism- Felony
The Santa Rosa Police Department is continuing to investigate this incident and are committed to the safety of all those within our community.”
