Residential burglar alarm leads to Santa Rosa bust for 5+ pounds of cocaine, firearms
SANTA ROSA -- A search for a burglary suspect after an alarm at a Santa Rosa residence was triggered Tuesday led police to arrest the homeowner when a large cache of cocaine, cash and firearms was found.
According to a Santa Rosa police press release, Wednesday morning at around 10:30 a.m., the department received a call about a residential burglary alarm being set off at a home on the 1900 block of Fountainview Circle. Arriving officers immediately noted the garage door open and an interior garage door to the residence was unlocked and investigated.
Given that the burglary alarm had been triggered, officers believed a suspect could be inside the residence and announced their presence to see if a resident was home or the burglary suspect was present. No one acknowledged the announcement. Officers conducted a protective sweep of the residence for a possible burglary in-progress and observed a large quantity of suspected narcotics in plain view inside the residence.
Officers continued to search the residence for a possible burglar. When the home was determined to be safe and empty, police left the residence and contacted narcotics detectives. Police later determined that the resident of the home was 39-year-old Ray Williams. Detectives authored a search warrant for the Fountainview Circle residence and served it at noon. The search uncovered a plastic storage container containing three pounds of a substance suspected to be cocaine along with an additional packaged kilo (2.2 pounds) of cocaine, $320,000 in cash and three firearms and ammunition, including two handguns and an AR-style rifle.
Items commonly associated with drug sales were also found at the residence, including various other types of prescription drugs, packaging material, a digital scale, and a sifter. Police said the cocaine found at the residence has an estimated street value of $100,000.
During the initial investigation, police detectives contacted Williams via cell phone. He agreed to later met with detectives at the Santa Rosa Police Department and was subsequently arrested and booked at the Sonoma County Jail. Williams is facing charges of trafficking narcotics, possession of drugs with a loaded firearm, being a convicted felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and possession of an assault rifle.
