Santa Rosa man with hammer threatens officers

A hammer-wielding Santa Rosa man who threatened police officers early Sunday apparently wanting them to shoot him, instead got an electric shock and booked into jail, according to Santa Rosa police.

Officers were called to a Pawnee Street home in west Santa Rosa at 1:47 a.m. Sunday morning about a man who was causing a disturbance. As officers arrived, a man came out of the home’s garage holding a hammer in the air and walked toward officers, who drew their guns and ordered him to stop and drop the toolr, said Sgt. Mike Clark in a news release.

As the man walked toward one officer, another officer with a Taser warned the man to stop or be shocked. When the man continued advancing he was shocked with the Taser, Clark said.

The shock incapacitated the man and officers arrested Juan Gabriel Rincon-Mercado, 38, of Santa Rosa. He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and then booked him into the Sonoma County Jail, suspected of making threats to officers, drug possession and being drunk in public.

The incident was considered an attempted suicide as the man told officers he’d used the hammer to confront police, hoping they would shoot him, Clark said. Rincon-Mercado had been binge drinking and using methamphetamine prior to police being called.

Randi Rossmann