Intruder breaks into Petaluma fire station, struggles with firefighters

Petaluma police arrested an intruder who broke into the city’s downtown fire station Sunday and assaulted firefighters, according to fire officials.

The man threw a heavy object through the glass of the station’s locked door about 10:45 p.m. A fire captain on duty was finishing work in his nearby office and the three-man crew was upstairs in the dormitory.

Hearing the loud crash and breaking glass, the captain walked around the corner to find a man climbing through the broken door, Battalion Chief Jeff Holden said Tuesday.

The captain headed up the stairs to alert the firefighters. Police were contacted. The man followed the captain and then confronted the firefighters who’d come downstairs.

Speaking unintelligibly, the man appeared irate and began throwing chairs at the firefighters, Holden said.

Firefighters tried to subdue him but he struggled away and ran out through the broken glass door. When he tripped and fell on the street, firefighters held him until officers arrived.

Armando Arenas Altamirano, 27, of Petaluma, was arrested on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon on a firefighter, vandalism, being under the influence of drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia, according to Petaluma police.

Holden said no firefighters were hurt but Altamirano had minor cuts from the glass.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter at rossmannreport.