Rohnert Park man sought

Two Santa Rosa gas stations were held up Wednesday, and police believe the suspect may be responsible for four other robberies in Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park over the past 10 days.

Rohnert Park police said they obtained an arrest warrant Wednesday for Matthew Thomas Meehan, 25, of Rohnert Park, whom they suspect of robbing a Valero gas station Aug. 19 and an electronics store Aug. 23.

They said they don’t know Meehan’s whereabouts, and he should be considered armed and dangerous.

“We are urging the public not to confront him, to pick up the phone, call 911 and be a good witness,” said Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Art Sweeney.

But that’s not how an employee at the Union 76 station on Santa Rosa’s Farmers Lane reacted when a man fitting Meehan’s description walked in about 5 p.m. Wednesday, asked for the money in the register and flashed a gun.

“He came in and got a bottle of water,” clerk Carol Barton said. “I handed him his change, and he said, ‘I want the rest of it,’ and I yelled at him, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ and I slammed the register shut,” Barton said.

She said the young man then lifted his shirt to show her a gun tucked into his waistband, and she yelled at him again.

“I said, ‘You stupid idiot,’ and he ran out the door. He didn’t get anything,” she said.

The robbery was attempted less than 24 hours after a Shell station on Dutton Avenue in Santa Rosa was held up by a man who displayed a handgun and demanded cash before leaving on foot. That robbery occurred at 12:18 a.m. Wednesday, and it was not clear how much money the man took.

Santa Rosa police said Meehan may be responsible for those holdups and the robberies of a Cleveland Avenue Shell station Aug. 17 and a Steele Lane Shell station Aug. 21.

In those cases, the suspect was described as a tall, thin white man in his early 20s driving a black, late-model Honda Accord with a partial license plate of 6DWN.

“It looks like it’s probably the same guy,” said Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Steve Bair.

Rohnert Park police said Meehan is white, 5 feet 11 inches tall and 175 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. They said he may be driving a black Honda Accord or Civic with a Grateful Dead sticker on the back and a California license plate of 6DWM187.

Sweeney said a confidential tip led to the arrest warrant obtained Wednesday.

In Santa Rosa, some local Shell station managers said they are rearranging shifts so employees aren’t working alone.

“Some of the ladies are worried,” said one manager, who did not want to be identified. “I tell them we can get a robber any time and the only thing they can do is to cooperate with him.”

Anyone with information about the suspect or robberies can contact Santa Rosa Police Detective Mark Mahre at 543-3590 or Rohnert Park Police at 584-2600.