Santa Rosa police: ‘Most wanted’ man caught, in custody

A call to a police tip line Tuesday afternoon led to the arrest of a man on the Santa Rosa Police Department’s Most Wanted list, according to a Santa Rosa police detective.

Street gang member Jerome Coleman Jr. was found Tuesday night in a house in Lake County, Sgt. Rob Reynolds said in a news release issued Wednesday.

Coleman, 34, is considered an active Kumi gang member and was wanted on a felony parole warrant. The caller told police the man was possibly hiding from the law in a home on Crandall Avenue in Clearlake, Reynolds said.

Clearlake officers went to the home at about 9:15 p.m. and arrested Coleman without incident, then booked him into the Lake County Jail.

Coleman now has been moved to the captured list. Information on him, along with his photo, includes that he has a violent criminal history, has various nicknames and tattoos and was considered armed and dangerous. A reward also was promised for information leading to the man’s arrest, funded by the Sonoma County Alliance.

Coleman is a member of the Kumi African Nation Organization, or 415 Kumi, Reynolds said. The gang has a big presence in the Bay Area with about 50 members in Sonoma County. It has a close allegiance to prison gangs with a strong network throughout Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco, according to gang detectives.

Santa Rosa police established their list in early May. Coleman is the seventh man from the list to be taken into custody.

The list includes people suspected of a range of crimes, including homicide, child molestation and gang activity.

The tip line for information on the city’s most wanted criminals is 707-528-5222.