Police: Santa Rosa man attacked panhandler, drove into wall of Roseland store

A Santa Rosa man brutally attacked a panhandler in a Roseland parking lot Monday, beating him to the ground and kicking him multiple times in the head after he was asked for money.

Sheriff’s deputies were called to Ray’s Food Center at 5:16 p.m. after Andane Mondragon, 21, of Santa Rosa, beat the other 28-year-old Petaluma man to the ground.

Sgt. Spencer Crum, with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, said the unidentified Petaluma man went up to Mondragon’s SUV, and asked him for money. Mondragon, seated in the driver’s seat, declined before pulling his car forward a few feet and stepping outside.

He then lunged at the man, knocking him to the ground and beating and kicking him continually, Crum said. Mondragon then got back in the car, and the victim tried to stop him by grabbing him through the driver’s side window, but Mondragon hit the gas, slamming into the wall of Ray’s Food Center.

Crum said Mondragon originally gave a different statement to deputies, but security footage from the food center told another story.

“I don’t think the victim had a chance to fight back,” Crum said.

The victim, who was intoxicated at the time, was treated at the scene by an ambulance crew, and declined to be taken to a hospital.

Mondragon was taken to Sonoma County Jail, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.