Seven-hour Santa Rosa standoff ends in arrest

Standing on his roof and threatening to kill himself, a Santa Rosa man held police at bay for about seven hours until late Sunday night before he finally gave up and was arrested.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Ron Nelson said before getting on the roof of his Broadmoor Street home, the man called 911 at about 3:40 p.m. and gave a rambling report about people trying to frame him for something and kill him.

Another 911 call by a resident on the street reported a man on a rooftop, yelling about someone wanting to kill him.

Santa Rosa’s police negotiation team, which was on duty Sunday, spent hours trying to talk the man off of the roof. The man, identified as Paul Johnson, 37, has a history of violent crimes and was wanted on an arrest warrant, Nelson said.

For hours the man rambled nonsensically and was seen trying to cut himself with some kind of makeshift weapon, the sergeant said.

By 10:23 p.m. a police dog and officer had sneaked up on the man and took him into custody. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries he’d inflicted on himself and then was taken to the Sonoma County Jail for the warrant, Nelson said.

Neighbors in the area, which is near West Third Street, were allowed to stay in their homes during the seven-hour incident.