Falling stucco startles Rincon Valley shoppers

Broken stucco and other materials from a walkway overhang fell near shoppers Friday at a Rincon Valley shopping center in Santa Rosa where repair work was underway.

No one was injured, but the falling debris startled patrons at the northeast corner of the Montecito Shopping Center at Montecito Boulevard and Middle Rincon Road.

Stucco from the walkway’s overhang near Ozzie’s Grill ?suddenly broke loose and ?“came down in chunks,” ?Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Ken Sebastiani said. Even ?so, the falling material affected only a small section of the ?shopping center’s covered walkways.

A contractor apparently had begun pulling off some of the walkway’s roofing in order to make repairs, but construction workers had left for the day when the pieces starting dropping about ?5 p.m.

Some debris landed on a ?patron and his car, but the man escaped injury and was able to drive away in the vehicle, Sebastiani said.

Fire and city building officials cordoned off the area and prohibited people from walking underneath until the unstable section could be strengthened.