Santa Rosa thief sentenced to home confinement cuts off monitoring bracelet, disappears

A 50-year-old Santa Rosa man confined to his home while serving a sentence for a theft conviction cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and disappeared, Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.

Deputies found Michael Christopher Jones’ bracelet, which had been cut, near the intersection of Marlow Road and Crosspoint Avenue after an alert was issued by the device’s vendor, Sgt. Spencer Crum said. The first alert that the device had possibly been tampered with was issued about ?2:40 p.m. Tuesday. Jail staff confirmed with the vendor that the device had been compromised about ?5 p.m. and a “be on the lookout” was broadcast to area law enforcement about ?10 minutes later, Crum said.

Jones was a minimum-security inmate who was allowed to spend his sentence at his residence following his conviction for petty theft, driving on a suspended license and violating a court order, Crum said.

“These inmates are considered very low risk,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office released a photograph of Jones and asked that anyone with information about him call dispatch at 707-565-2121.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com.? On Twitter @jjpressdem.