Guerneville man wounded in deputy-involved shooting arrested at hospital

A Guerneville man who authorities said pointed a shotgun at three Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies last week before one deputy shot and wounded him was arrested Tuesday at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Petaluma police officials said.

A detective visited the hospital room of Jeffrey Singleton, 46, and arrested him on suspicion of six felony charges, including a variety of weapons crimes and child endangerment, as well as the misdemeanor crime of possessing a suspected methamphetamine pipe, Petaluma Police Sgt. Ed Crosby said.

Singleton will be booked into Sonoma County Jail after he is discharged from the hospital, Crosby said.

Crosby said that Petaluma police are still finishing up their investigation into the shooting and will be sending that report to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. Petaluma police have not yet received a report on a toxicology screen.

Crosby said that the seriousness of the offenses prompted authorities to arrest Singleton while the investigation is ongoing.

“We have ample probable cause to support these charges,” Crosby said. “There is a definite societal interest and legal need to address them.”

The bedside arrest came nearly a week after deputies were called April 29 to Guerneville’s Fife Creek Commons apartment complex on Fifth Street at about 2:40 p.m. by reports of a man brandishing a knife and acting erratically.

As deputies spoke to people in an apartment courtyard, Singleton stepped out onto his second-floor balcony, according to police reports.

The deputies, standing below and about 20 feet away, asked Singleton to come down and talk.

Singleton reportedly refused, disappeared into his apartment and re-emerged holding a sawed-off shotgun, according to Petaluma police. Petaluma detectives are investigating the shooting under a countywide policy for officer-involved shootings.

The deputies repeatedly ordered Singleton to drop the weapon but he did not, police said.

The man then pumped the shotgun, as if to get a shell into the firing chamber, and brought it to bear on the deputies, according to the investigation.

One deputy fired at him four times, wounding Singleton in the shoulder.

During the encounter, Singleton’s children, ages 13 and 7, were in his living room, prompting the child endangerment charge, Crosby said.

The specific arresting charges are: brandishing a loaded or unloaded weapon at officers in a rude or threatening manner; possession of a short-barreled shotgun; being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; child endangerment; obstructing police with threats or violence; and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession.

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