Point Arena city councilman suspected of ramming cars outside bar

A Point Arena city councilman, high school teacher and baseball coach was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and drunken driving and is suspected of ramming his SUV into other cars outside a Point Arena bar, Mendocino County sheriff's officials said.

Trevor Sanders, 45, is slated to be arraigned in Mendocino County court on Tuesday on the felony and misdemeanor charges.

Sanders has been head coach of the Point Arena High School baseball team for about five years. Saturday the Pirates are headed to Eureka for the 2014 North Coast Section Division 6 championship game.

Sanders will not be coaching, said Leonard Bechtol, athletic director for Point Arena High School.

Sanders, a longtime Point Arena resident, joined the coastal town's City Council in 2011 during a recall effort of four council members and he is a longtime Social Studies teacher at the high school.

Matt Strahl, the school's principal, did not return a call seeking comment.

People in town said Saturday's apparent violence from the normally laid-back man was out of character. Sanders, married with three children, is in the middle of a divorce, said some town residents.

The arrest came as many in town, including Coach Sanders, were celebrating that afternoon's big win against Mendocino High School's baseball team — a win that came in five innings by 10 runs.

The celebration was at the Sign of the Whale in downtown Point Arena.

At about 5:45 p.m. Sanders headed into the parking lot. Callers began dialing 911 to report the coach was using his black Chevrolet Suburban to ram three parked vehicles in the lot, including a Honda Civic, causing serious damage, said sheriff's Lt. Greg Stefani.

Sanders also almost struck Douglas Forsell, 62, of Point Arena who was walking in the area, Stefani said.

During the suspected parking lot assault, 21-year-old Alexander Bartlett of Point Arena told deputies he was getting into his Toyota Tacoma pickup when he almost was hit by Sanders' Suburban.

Bartlett told deputies he jumped out of the way to avoid being struck. The large vehicle did hit Bartlett's pickup and Sanders then backed up and rammed the truck twice more, Stefani said.

Bartlett and others tried to get the keys from Sanders' vehicle, leading to a struggle involving several people.

When deputies arrived, they found Sanders being detained by citizens in the parking lot.

Stefani said the motive wasn't clear. "He couldn't provide any information."

"We did get a breath test at the scene. He was pretty intoxicated," the lieutenant said. "Well above the legal limit."

Sanders was taken to the Mendocino County Jail and was released after posting $30,000 bail.

News of the arrest spread quickly through the town, which has a population of about 450.

"It's a small town," said Justin Sundstrom, a star player on Sanders' team and a graduating senior. "I was really just worried about his job and his reputation in the town. I wasn't really thinking about baseball.

"It's a terrible thing that happened. Everybody makes mistakes."

For Saturday's baseball game, the team will be coached by Pirates' assistant coach Roger Little, aided by school basketball coach David Blair.

Concern for their coach will give the players extra motivation, Sundstrom said.

"We'll be doing every little thing he taught us. We want to win for T-San, for Coach T-San," Sundstrom said, using the coach's nickname.

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