2 additional arrests in vandalism case involving former Santa Rosa home of Derek Chauvin expert witness

Two more people were arrested Tuesday evening in connection with an April vandalism case involving the former home of an ex-Santa Rosa police officer and expert witness for the defense in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to five.

Christina Henry, 22, and Colin Metcalfe, 25, both of Santa Rosa, were taken into custody some time after 6:45 p.m. outside Henry’s home on Healdsburg Avenue, located just north of Santa Rosa’s downtown area, the Santa Rosa Police Department said in a news release.

Both were suspects in an ongoing investigation involving a west Santa Rosa home that was vandalized with pig’s blood before dawn on April 17. A group of people, who had splattered blood on the front of the house and threw a pig’s head on the home’s front porch, ran away before police arrived.

The hand sculpture outside the Santa Rosa Plaza mall downtown was also found covered in animal blood later that morning.

The home, on Country Manor Drive off Guerneville Road, was the former residence of Barry Brodd, a use of force expert witness who testified on behalf of the defense in the murder trial against Derek Chauvin, the ex-Minneapolis police officer later convicted of killing George Floyd.

Police suspect the home, which Brodd no longer owns, was targeted in error because of Brodd’s involvement in the case, they said.

Three Santa Rosa women, Amber Lucas, 35; Rowan Dalbey, 20; and Kristen Aumoithe, 34, were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of felony conspiracy to commit a crime and two felony vandalism charges in connection to two acts of vandalism.

Last week, the women’s lawyers said the trio were falsely accused. In a statement sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, Lucas, a social media wine influencer, said the allegations against her are “not me, or what I stand for.”

The Sonoma County Superior Court website shows no criminal cases filed in their names.

Henry and Metcalfe were booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime and two felony vandalism counts each, police said.

“Both Henry and Metcalfe were identified as suspects in these investigations through numerous pieces of evidence, including evidence collected from prior search warrants,” the news release said.

A search warrant for Henry’s home was approved by a judge and police seized evidence related to the case, though authorities declined to detail what was taken.

“Right now, some of the evidence, (investigators) are still trying to go through,” Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said. “We still also believe there may be other additional suspects that we’re trying to identify.”

Investigators had not yet pinpointed Metcalfe’s residence as of Wednesday, Mahurin added. The department also could not provide a timeline of events, citing a need to protect the suspects’ due process rights, Mahurin said.

Both Henry and Metcalfe had bailed out of the facility by Wednesday morning, Mahurin said. Neither Henry or Metcalfe could be reached for comment about their arrests later in the day.

The Sonoma County Superior Court did not reply to an inquiry about when Henry and Metcalfe were next due in court, though the court’s calendar did not indicate they had a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.