Child finds loaded gun in wake of gang fight outside Santa Rosa

A 4-year-old found a loaded semi-automatic handgun Monday evening on a sidewalk on the southwestern outskirts of Santa Rosa, in an area where deputies were investigating a suspected gang fight, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said.

The child’s mother told a deputy that she saw the 4-year-old nearly pick up the gun, Sgt. Cecile Focha said.

The child noticed the gun during a chaotic encounter while deputies tried to gain control over at least six people who reportedly had been fighting on Neville Way near Moorland Avenue.

Five people were arrested during the investigation, including 18-year-old Luis Cuevas of Santa Rosa. Cuevas was being held on $75,000 bail at the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of possessing a concealed firearm as a criminal street gang member, as well as resisting arrest and other gang participation charges, Focha said. Authorities linked him with the handgun because he was closest to the weapon discovered on the sidewalk.

The incident comes on the heels of a string of shootings and reports of gunfire that police and deputies are investigating as gang-related crimes. Late Sunday, a 20-year-old man turned up at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound in his leg. Santa Rosa police detectives said the man, a suspected active gang member, told them he was walking on West Ninth Street when rival gang members drove up and someone shot him.

At 7:48 p.m. Monday, an anonymous caller told dispatchers that six people wearing blue were fighting with broken bottles near Moorland Avenue and Neville Way, Focha said. The caller said they were gang members and had two cars, one white and one black.

The area has been the site of gang fights and shootings in the past. In 2009, an 18-year-old man was gunned down on Neville Way in what remains an unsolved homicide.

The encounter between law enforcement officers and the individuals was captured on several body cameras worn by deputies. Those videos have been entered into evidence, Focha said.

The Sheriff’s Office reported that the first deputy to arrive saw a black sedan packed with people quickly driving away from the area, and he pursued the car, which finally stopped on Eddie Drive at Robin Way.

Two back-seat passengers jumped out from either side of the car and started to walk away, the Sheriff’s Office reported. Focha said the men did not comply with the deputy’s orders and “challenged” the deputy.

The deputy tried to physically restrain a man clad in blue, later identified as 21-year-old Christian Estrella of Santa Rosa, but he resisted and fought back, Focha said. The deputy fired a stun gun charge at Estrella but it had no effect, she said. The deputy then tried to use his flashlight to force Estrella to the ground but the man stood back up, assumed a fighting stance and clenched his fists, according to Focha.

More people were exiting the car as other deputies arrived, including Cuevas and a woman who ran away, sheriff’s officials said. While no one immediately followed deputies’ orders, law enforcement officers eventually detained five people. In addition to Cuevas, the other four arrested were:

- Estrella, who was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest by violence, delaying an investigation, probation violations and participating in gang conspiracy.

- Juan Carlos Gomez, 18, of Santa Rosa, who was arrested on suspicion of being a minor in possession of alcohol and conspiracy to participate in a criminal street gang.

- Vanessa Carreon-Lopez, 18, of Petaluma, who was arrested on suspicion of being a minor in possession of an alcoholic beverage.

- The 17-year-old driver, who was booked into Sonoma County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of allowing a passenger to carry a concealed firearm in a vehicle and being a minor in possession of an alcoholic beverage.

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