Pair seeking thief attack Santa Rosa newspaper carrier

A newspaper carrier was attacked early Tuesday by two men police said were looking for a neighborhood thief in a suspected act of botched vigilante revenge.

Rodeo Van Bladel, 38, and Matthew Mills, 28, both of Santa Rosa were arrested on suspicion of hitting the carrier’s minivan with pipes, chasing the man as he tried to run away and then beating him, Santa Rosa police said.

Independent contractor Jimmy Troconis of Rohnert Park, who has only been on the job since January, had about five papers left to deliver on his morning route when the attack began, according to Troy Niday, chief operations officer at Sonoma Media Investments, which owns the Press Democrat.

Troconis, 38, moved to Rohnert Park from Venezuela about nine months ago, said his employer and friend, Rafael Quinto, Rafy’s Pizzeria owner. Troconis works at the pizzeria and a carpet company in addition to delivering the Press Democrat, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and other periodicals.

“He was just the newspaper guy,” Quinto said. “These guys were trying to take justice into their own hands, and this is really unacceptable. (Troconis) just had a baby, the poor guy is working three jobs.”

The assault occurred just before 6:20 a.m. near Baggett and Senna drives in a west Santa Rosa neighborhood, between West Third Street and Highway 12, near A Place to Play park.

Police suspect Van Bladel and Mills had been keeping watch in the neighborhood for a van they thought was involved in recent thefts.

When Van Bladel and Mills saw Troconis pull into the neighborhood in a grey Honda minivan, they drove up in a white pickup and blocked him in, said Troconis.

Troconis spoke about the ordeal during an interview late Tuesday by phone at his Rohnert Park home. He spoke in Spanish and Quinto translated.

“I was thinking, I am probably going to get robbed,” he said.

Troconis said he frantically tried to drive away when the men started hitting his van with pipes, and he crashed into several parked cars in his attempt to flee.

“Both guys were coming with the pipes, I jumped out of the car and started running,” he said.

Van Bladel and Mills chased him down and began punching him, according to Troconis and police. The shouted racial slurs as they beat him and then left him lying on the ground, he said.

In the meantime, neighbors saw the damaged parked cars and alerted police.

It wasn’t clear how police identified Van Bladel and Mills as suspects in the beating.

Late Tuesday, Troconis said he was sore and in pain, but would be fine. He said he would not return to delivering papers, and the company agreed to let him leave his contract early. Troconis said that his Honda was beyond repair and he will need to start saving for another vehicle.

Niday, with Sonoma Media Investments, said that Troconis had recently put in his 30 days’ notice because he was starting another job. When he said Tuesday he didn’t feel safe resuming the route, they agreed he could leave the position early.

“We are just very thankful that he’s safe and so sorry that he had to go through this scary ordeal,” Niday said.

Niday said the attack was very unusual. Still, two carriers will ride together on Troconis’ route starting Wednesday as a temporary extra precaution.

Troconis was surrounded by family at his home late Thursday, including some who drove from other counties to see him after his ordeal.

“This kind of thing should not happen to anybody,” he said.

Van Bladel and Mills were booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiring to commit a felony.

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

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story misspelled Troconis’ surname.