Santa Rosa police say gang attack on pedestrian was random

Yelling gang slogans, an 18-year-old Santa Rosa man with a knife attempted to stab a stranger during a late-night confrontation along Santa Rosa Avenue, according to Santa Rosa police.

The attack appeared to be random, involving a suspected norteño gang member on a 40-year-old man with no gang connections who may have been singled out because of his blue shirt, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said Monday.

Officers arrested Jesus Frias-Hopper on a suspected felony gang enhancement and assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim, who Banayat declined to identify because of the gang involvement in the case, wasn’t stabbed but suffered several non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident occurred at about 11 p.m. Sunday near the corner of Colgan and Santa Rosa avenues.

The victim told officers he’d just started to walk across Santa Rosa Avenue when someone rushed toward him with one arm raised, holding a knife.

He said he tried to deflect the assault and struggled with the armed man, who repeatedly tried to stab him, spit on him and threatened to kill him while making gang-related comments, Banayat said.

During the struggle, the suspect dropped the knife. The two men fell to the ground and the victim pinned the suspect before getting up and running, he told officers.

Police were alerted to the fight by a witness, Banayat said. The 911 caller reported hearing one person threaten to kill the other. The caller also told a dispatcher they’d yelled out for the suspect to settle down and a man yelled back, threatening to shoot them and saying more gang epithets, according to the police report.

Arriving officers found the victim on the corner and a man farther up Colgan Street who matched the description of the suspect, Banayat said.

As he was arrested, the intoxicated Frias-Hopper was spitting and cursing at the officer and attempted to pull away, according to police reports. Two women with him weren’t following the officer’s commands to move away, and the officer called for emergency help, bringing more officers.

Frias-Hopper was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of felony gang enhancement and assault with a deadly weapon, suspicion of misdemeanor assault of an officer and resisting arrest. He remained in jail Monday in lieu of $60,000 bail.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.