Suicidal ex-Marine from SR calls 911, but war trophy brings weapons charge; veterans advocate calls for counseling

A former Marine and Iraq war veteran from Santa Rosa is facing a felony weapons charge stemming from a call for help he made while contemplating suicide.

Matthew Jensen, 24, said he was deeply depressed and suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from his multiple tours in Iraq when he called 911 on May 31.

Jensen, a 6-foot-2-inch former infantryman, surrendered to police unarmed and without incident and was placed on a psychiatric hold that night. Officers confiscated a 1940s-design assault rifle they found on the floor of Jensen's parents' home on Princeton Drive.

Three weeks later, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest, charging Jensen with possession of an illegal assault rifle.

Police said the rifle, an SKS, had a "folding stock" and was found with a "high capacity magazine" -- two characteristics of an illegal weapon. A sniper scope and a bayonet were attached to the rifle.

Jensen, now a corporal in the California National Guard's Santa Rosa-based 579th Engineer Battalion, said he brought the rifle back from Iraq as a "war trophy" and gave it to his father.

Jensen said he took the rifle from a dead insurgent sniper, killed by Marines in his unit in 2004. Had he left the weapon in Iraq, Jensen believes it would have fallen back into the hands of enemy forces.

He said he removed the rifle's firing pin and firing mechanism and threw them away.

"You can't load it. You can't fire it," said Paul Carreras, Jensen's attorney.

Whether the weapon is technically illegal is a "gray area," Carreras said.

But the bigger issue, the former Marine and his attorney said, is how Sonoma County treats mentally distressed veterans.

"I called for help, and now I'm facing prison time," Jensen said. If convicted of the single felony charge, he could spend up to a year in county jail or prison.

Jensen's case is similar to last year's felony prosecution of an Iraq war veteran from Forestville, who fired several shots from a semiautomatic rifle into a woodpile at his parents' home in April 2006.

Lorin Smith's case became a cause celebre among Sonoma County veterans, who showed up at court hearings to support him. Ultimately, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, and Smith agreed to serve three years of probation.

Jensen should get treatment, not incarceration, said Peter Cameron of Santa Rosa, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of California, a nonprofit service organization.

"He should not be put away in jail for one mistake," Cameron said. Counseling "could save his life."

There are community services available for Jensen, Cameron said, and state law allows a judge to take a veteran's combat service and trauma into account in resolving a case.

"Not every district attorney's office is willing to look at that," Cameron said.

Calls to District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua were returned by Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook, who said the decision to file a felony charge against Jensen was based on a review of the police report by Deputy District Attorney James Casey.

"It's a pending case," Cook said, noting that a preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 23. As the case progresses, she said, there will be "a continuous evaluation" of the evidence and of "the appropriate disposition."

Cook said the Smith case was "an entirely different" set of facts and circumstances. It involved the "discharge of a weapon in a public place" and not alleged possession of an assault weapon.

Carreras, a former police officer, said the circumstances of Jensen's case "do not rise to a felony."

Lt. Col. Jon Siepmann of the California National Guard said he couldn't comment on Jen-sen's case specifically, but said that military personnel are generally not allowed to bring weapons home from a war theater.

It is "common practice" for the National Guard to discharge a soldier convicted of a felony, Siepmann said, adding that every case is considered on its own.

Jensen, a 2001 graduate of Santa Rosa High School, was a school buddy of Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick O'Day and Army Staff Sgt. Jesse Williams, both of whom were killed in Iraq.

Jensen served combat tours with the Marines during the Iraq invasion in 2003 and again during the bloody battle of Fallujah in 2004. He returned with the National Guard last year with a sense of foreboding. "This time I think it's payback," he told The Press Democrat at the time.

On the night he called 911, Jensen said he was depressed over an argument and a breakup with his wife. He said he told the dispatcher he was considering suicide and that he had a weapon in the house.

"I said, 'I need help,' " Jensen said.

Police took him to Sutter Medical Center, where he received an injection that put him to sleep, Jensen said. He awoke at a Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto, where he was held for several days.

Jensen said Tuesday he still suffers from PTSD, but is taking medication and feels stable. He said he has not consumed alcohol since the night of the crisis.

Jensen, who was never jailed, appeared in court last month and is free under supervision by the Probation Department.

The SKS is a semiautomatic carbine originally made by the Russians during World War II, but is now widely manufactured and available for sale in California. It is a predecessor of the AK-47

Jensen said the SKS is prevalent in Iraq, used by insurgents and by some U.S. troops because it functions well in the arid, sandy environment.

The SKS he gave his father cannot be fired, nor can it hold a magazine, Jensen said.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.