Four young men were arrested Friday night in Maxwell Park near Sonoma after a sheriff's deputy found a loaded semiautomatic handgun near them that had been reported stolen a day earlier in El Verano, sheriff's officials said.
The deputy recognized one of the young men, who were drinking beer, as a gang member who reportedly had been present during a March 29 robbery and assault at El Verano Elementary School, according to a sheriff's news release.
In the March 29 incident, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old have been arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime during an attack on a gay Sonoma teen.
After Friday's arrests, gang task force investigators served search warrants on three homes in Sonoma, seeking other items reported stolen along with the handgun during a residential burglary.
Two adults and two juveniles were arrested at the park. Juan Angel Chavarria, 20, of Sonoma and Jarvis Angel Medel, 18, whom police described as homeless, were booked into the Sonoma County Jail.
Charges against the four included possession of stolen property, carrying a loaded firearm in public, criminal gang member in possession of loaded firearm and participation in a criminal street gang.
Bail for the two adults was set at $100,000.
No stolen property was found at the three homes, but a small amount of cocaine was found in a vehicle at one of the homes. Officers there arrested Erick Gomez- Miranda, 23, of Sonoma on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. He was booked in the jail and kept in custody on a "no bail" immigration hold.
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