15-year-old girl shot in back in SR gang attack

A 15-year-old girl was shot in the back in a gang-related attack in west Santa Rosa early Sunday, and a suspect was arrested after leading police on a car and foot chase.

Angelo Carlos Gonzalez, 24, whom police identified as a documented street gang member, was taken into custody at his West Eighth Street home, Santa Rosa Police Lt. Ernesto Olivares said.

A second man, a passenger in Gonzalez's car, ran off while an officer tried to detain him and Gonzalez at gunpoint, police said. That suspect still was being sought late Sunday night.

The unidentified girl was in stable condition late Sunday, with a single gunshot wound that Olivares said was not life-threatening. Two men with her were unhurt in the attack.

After the attack, police said, the men took the girl in a red Ford Mustang, which was riddled with bullet holes, to a nearby gas station, where they called for an ambulance.

Police said they hadn't concluded late Sunday whether the girl was in the car when she was shot.

"We don't know yet who the intended targets were," Olivares said. "We know we have at least three victims; there could be more."

Inside the Toyota officers found an assault-style handgun, he said.

"We don't know if it's the same one that was used," he said. "We're still working with that evidence."

Police said Officer Eric Rhodes heard shots and saw flashes of gunfire at 12:48 a.m. as he passed by the Walnut Grove Apartments on Stony Point Road near West Third Street. Rhodes estimated he heard 15 shots, police said.

Turning around to investigate, Rhodes reported seeing the red Ford Mustang with its headlights off speed away from the complex and a second car, a Toyota sedan, also with its headlights off, about to leave.

Rhodes blocked the exit with his patrol car and, pulling his gun, ordered the Toyota's occupants to show their hands. The driver, identified as Gonzalez, put his hands out the window as if to surrender, Olivares said, but after the passenger ran away Gonzalez backed up and drove out another exit with Rhodes in pursuit.

Officer Brett Siwy joined the chase, which led officers east toward the Railroad Square area near DeMeo Park. Gonzalez zigzagged through residential streets, sometimes driving more than 60 mph, police said.

As Rhodes bumped the Toyota's back bumper in an attempt to force it to spin out, Gonzalez hit his brakes and rear-ended a parked car on Hewett Street, police said. He then ran with officers chasing him on foot. They lost Gonzalez around the 700 block of Polk Street but were able to track him to his home a few blocks away, police said.

The second suspect was described as a Latino or white man, medium height, about 20 years old, last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at 543-3590.