Santa Rosa Police Investigate Stabbing of 2 Teen Girls at Recent Sideshow
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- Police in Santa Rosa are investigating the stabbing of two teenage girls during recent sideshow activity, authorities said.
On Thursday evening at approximately 7 p.m., Santa Rosa police dispatch started receiving calls about people gathering at the intersection of West Avenue and Sebastopol Road, with sideshow activity reported a short time later. Police were unable to immediately respond due to staffing levels and other high-priority calls, and the sideshow quickly grew to 300-400 people and 50-70 vehicles.
Traffic units were eventually dispatched along with members of the department's Special Enforcement Team and other available patrol units. As other units became available, officers began to make traffic stops and identify vehicles involved in the illegal activity, eventually gathering enough resources to help break up the sideshow.
One person was arrested for participating in a sideshow and their vehicle was impounded for 30-days and several other vehicles were identified. The department plans to conduct follow-up investigation to identify drivers for criminal prosecution and impound additional vehicles.
Sideshow enforcement was interrupted after reports of a shooting near the same intersection at West Avenue and Sebastopol Road. All available Santa Rosa police responded to the area and the department requested immediate mutual aid from nearby jurisdictions. Santa Rosa police used 19 patrol and special assignment units, with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office providing 10 deputies, and the California Highway Patrol adding several units to help disperse the large crowd.
As officers started to disperse the crowd and search for a possible shooting victim, a number of people in the crowd began to throw glass bottles and rocks at patrol cars and officers. No shooting victims or evidence of a shooting were located, but officers did find one adult male with a head injury, but it is unclear if he was assaulted or fell.
Over the next couple of hours, officers were dispatched to a local hospital twice regarding stabbings at the sideshow that left two different female victims with non-life-threatening injuries. One victim was 18 years old and the other was 16 years old female. Both cases are currently being investigated.
Police said large-scale sideshows have recently disproportionately affected the Roseland community and that the department is working with businesses and the community to identify ways to curb the dangerous events by modifying parking lots to make it more difficult for sideshows and increasing patrols.