Petaluma police find evidence from recent burglaries after arrest of Santa Rosa man driving stolen vehicle

Petaluma police said they recovered evidence Friday from recent burglaries of two Santa Rosa businesses after they arrested a man inside a stolen vehicle.

Paul Carroll, 30, of Santa Rosa was arrested just before 9:30 a.m. at Motel 6 in the 1300 block of N. McDowell Boulevard in Petaluma after an officer on patrol located a “suspicious vehicle,” a 2013 Toyota Venza, in the motel’s parking lot, according to a Nixle alert issued late Friday afternoon.

The officer checked the vehicle’s records, discovering it had been reported stolen from Santa Rosa.

Officers apprehended Carroll, who they said had initially provided false identification, according to the alert.

In a search of the stolen vehicle, police discovered several pieces of property, including several laptop computers and cameras and other electronic devices that they suspected belonged to two businesses in Santa Rosa, along with drug paraphernalia, according to Petaluma Police Lt. Nick McGowan.

The businesses told the Petaluma Police Department that some of the property recovered had been stolen, according to the alert. Police did not immediately release the names of the businesses.

After a subsequent search of Carroll’s motel room, police said they found additional evidence — serial numbers on the items that matched the properties from the two businesses — connecting him to the two commercial burglaries in Santa Rosa. He was also identified in video surveillance of one of the businesses, according to McGowan.

The stolen property was returned to the businesses, according to police, and Carroll was booked into the Sonoma County Jail for vehicle theft, impersonation, commercial burglary, possession of stolen property, felony probation violation and possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia.

Carroll’s bail was set at $10,000, though he was booked on a no-bail basis due to his probation violation.

“He will have to wait for his arraignment hearing on Monday,” McGowan said.

Petaluma police are now working with the Santa Rosa Police Department on an investigation into the stolen vehicle and burglaries.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.