Former Sonoma County administrator Bob Deis accused of battery

A former Sonoma County administrator is accused of assaulting a 68-year-old woman during an argument while riding his bike in Kenwood, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Bob Deis, 62, of Santa Rosa, identified himself to investigators after he read a report about the incident in The Press Democrat, according to his lawyer Chris Andrian. Deis told investigators that he was acting in self-defense when he pushed 68-year-old Jacalyn Pierce to the ground early this month, sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

A neighbor reported the altercation after witnessing Deis push Pierce. Deis told investigators that Pierce had yelled an obscenity at him as he rode by, and he turned around and got into an argument with her, Crum said. Deis said Pierce shoved him in the chest and he grabbed her arms and pushed her away from him in self defense, causing her to fall. Witnesses said that Deis bumped Pierce in the head with his helmet before he pushed her down.

Andrian said Pierce was “completely overreacting” and “got up in my client’s face.” He said there is a witness that supports Deis’ account and that he is “100 percent confident” the District Attorney’s Office will decline to pursue the matter.

Pierce told the Sheriff’s Office that she wanted to press charges, Crum said. Deis was issued a misdemeanor battery citation and released. “There’s two stories to it and they’ll figure it out in court,” Crum said.

Five years into his tenure as the county government’s top executive, Deis resigned as county administrator in 2009 after conflicts with the Board of Supervisors.

He became city manager in Stockton one year later, retiring in 2013 after leading the city through a financial crisis that ended in bankruptcy.