North Bay authorities break up multiple weekend attempts to hold sideshows

Santa Rosa police, with help from other North Bay law enforcement agencies, broke up a huge sideshow event late Saturday, resulting in the arrests of seven people, dozens of traffic stops and the capture of a fleeing suspect who led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended in Novato.

According to a post made Sunday night on the Santa Rosa Police Department’s official Facebook page, police learned Saturday that “numerous vehicles were en route to Santa Rosa with the intention of conducting illegal sideshows. Additionally, (the department was) also aware of a sanctioned ‘drifting’ (a controlled skid) event in Sonoma County.”

At about 10:45 p.m., police began receiving calls that around 200 cars were gathering near Petaluma Hill Road and Colgan Avenue in southeast Santa Rosa, officials said.

Responding police, Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers began conducting traffic stops in the area, but the vehicles disbanded and then attempted to take over an intersection along Central Avenue.

Authorities rushed to that location, officials said, and the drivers “were once again unable to establish a sideshow, and additional traffic enforcement stops were conducted.”

Vehicles from that location then left Santa Rosa and went to Rohnert Park, where they attempted to establish another sideshow, police said, adding that attempt was thwarted by officers from the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety.

Drivers then made a fourth attempt to establish a sideshow, this time at the intersection of Sebastopol Road and Lombardi Lane in southwest Santa Rosa, but Santa Rosa police, assisted by sheriff’s deputies and the CHP, prevented the groups from closing off the intersection.

“With their numbers rapidly declining, the would-be sideshow participants left Santa Rosa, heading south on Highway 101 before leaving the North Bay via the Richmond Bridge,” police said in Sunday’s Facebook post.

“Of the many arrests made on Saturday night, the most significant occurred shortly after the sideshow group first gathered in Santa Rosa at approximately 10:50 p.m.,” officials said.

A Santa Rosa police officer attempted to pull over a white Dodge Charger. The driver of the Charger would not stop, officials said, and eventually led the officer on a chase through south Santa Rosa onto southbound Highway 101.

The vehicles reached speeds that exceeded 100 mph, according to the Facebook post.

The pursuit continued through southern Sonoma County until Novato in Marin County, where CHP officers had set up a spike strip.

After the Charger’s tires were punctured by the spikes, the car’s four occupants fled the vehicle on foot.

The three passengers, two of which were minors, were caught and detained by police.

The suspected driver, Dominick Desouza, 20, of Pittsburg, was eventually found by police and arrested.

During their investigation, police discovered that the Charger had been reported stolen from Vallejo. The license plates had been switched with those from a Volkswagen in Antioch, police added.

Desouza was booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of evading a police officer, possession of a stolen vehicle and two counts of child endangerment.

In addition to Desouza’s arrest, authorities said the other arrests involved outstanding warrants and suspect DUIs.

Throughout the night police also conducted 54 traffic stops, issued 10 citations and participated in one police vehicle chase.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.

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