Petaluma homicide suspect arrested after standoff

A Santa Rosa man was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on Tuesday on suspicion of fatally shooting a man on a Petaluma-area property a day prior, setting off a manhunt that resulted in a six-hour standoff and the suspect’s arrest near Sonoma.

Deputies took Lloban Martinez Soto, 38, into custody at about 10 p.m. Monday at a home on Center Street in El Verano, where he had barricaded himself from authorities for six hours before his arrest, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

He was booked into the jail early Tuesday morning and was ineligible for release on bail as of late Tuesday afternoon, hours after the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office identified Jesus Mendez, 34, of Santa Rosa as the victim in the homicide.

Mendez was found in a carport with multiple gunshot wounds on a property on Casa Grande Road near Old Adobe Road after deputies responded to a 2:40 p.m. report of a shooting Monday afternoon, authorities said.

About 10 minutes after deputies were alerted to the shooting, a red car matching a witness’s description of the suspect’s vehicle sped past a Sonoma Valley-area sergeant, helping authorities track Martinez Soto to the Center Street home, deputies said.

Authorities suspect Martinez Soto abandoned the vehicle on nearby Bay Street and then ran away, finding cover in the Center Street home.

He surrendered six hours into a standoff with SWAT and hostage negotiators, who fired tear gas and flash bombs, a less-lethal explosive device intended to disorient suspects, into the home, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Juan Valencia said.

“The fact that he fled from the sergeant made us believe that he possibly was the suspect in the shooting,” Valencia said of Martinez Soto’s arrest. “They were able to gather information and determine what house he was at.”

There were other people inside the home when deputies arrived, Valencia said, but they exited soon after.

On Tuesday, investigators continued to piece together information about the homicide case, including tracking down the firearm used in the shooting and pin pointing a motive for the slaying, Valencia said.

He declined to share whether detectives knew what Mendez was doing on the property, whether the suspect and victim knew each other or if Martinez Soto had any connection to the home where he was arrested, among other details.

“We’re not going to release any more information than what was released in the news release,” Valencia said.

Relatives of Martinez Soto and Mendez could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

A woman who lives at the Casa Grande Road property where Mendez was shot said he had been given permission to keep a car there while he repaired it.

Martinez Soto is scheduled to appear at the Sonoma County Superior Court Thursday afternoon.

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