Bizarre, convoluted car sale in Petaluma ends in gunfire Saturday
PETALUMA -- Petaluma police on Saturday night arrested a juvenile suspected of shooting a gun while trying to fraudulently sell a vehicle.
Police were dispatched at 5:49 p.m. to a report of a woman saying someone shot at her in the Safeway parking lot at 389 South McDowell Blvd.
Officers found a 41-year-old woman from Cotati, who said she was initially trying to sell a vehicle to the suspect, a 16-year-old male from Petaluma.
The victim and the suspect previously met to discuss the purchase of the vehicle. They agreed the suspect would test drive the vehicle prior to paying for it.
Police said the victim later discovered the suspect changed the vehicle's license plates and was trying to sell it online. The victim, using an alias, arranged to meet with the suspect in the Safeway parking lot under the guise of wanting to purchase the vehicle.
When they met, they argued. The suspect allegedly threatened the victim, slashed one of the vehicle's tires, then allegedly removed a black semiautomatic handgun from his waistband and fired a round into the vehicle's tire.
The suspect then fled the area on foot. No one was injured as a result of the incident.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies located the vehicle around 9 p.m. and detained the suspect. Petaluma officers arrived and arrested the suspect, who was booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm, minor in possession of a firearm, concealing a loaded firearm, brandishing a firearm, criminal threats and vandalism.
The firearm wasn't recovered. Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact officer Nathan Good at (707) 781-1262.