Three arrested on suspicion of drug, firearm possession after fleeing west Sonoma County home

Three men suspected of carrying drugs and guns were booked into the Sonoma County Jail early Tuesday after the trio fled from a west Sonoma County home where deputies went to check on a pair of toddlers, authorities said.

The deputies went to the house on the 5100 block of Blank Road, west of Cotati, on Monday after they were dispatched to the residence for a welfare check of the toddlers at 4:49 p.m.

They learned Hayward resident Olympus Pereira, 26, formerly of Sonoma County, was staying at the house and was on probation for prior weapon-?related charges, Sonoma County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Juan Valencia said.

The deputies knocked on the front door and heard someone moving inside the house, Valencia said.

One of the deputies then went to the back of the residence and heard glass breaking, as well as the sound of a metal object hitting asphalt. The deputy then saw a handgun sliding across the pavement and a man jumping out a window into the home’s backyard.

The man, later identified as DeMaria Adger, 24, of Oakland, picked up the gun and tossed it over a fence, Valencia said. He was followed by a second man, identified as Marcus Samuel, 29, of Antioch, and both fled northbound on foot.

Additional deputies and officers were called to the area to search for the men, as was the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, Henry 1. Police dogs with the Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments located each man separately in a nearby creek bed, Valencia said.

A CHP officer saw Pereira fleeing the area on foot and arrested him. The toddlers were found safe inside the home with their mother, Valencia said.

A search of Pereira’s car, which was parked at the home, turned up more than 500 pills of oxycodone, Valencia said. Pereira was booked early Tuesday morning on suspicion of obstructing a police officer, possession of narcotics for sale and violating his probation, the Sonoma County Jail website shows.

Adger, the man suspected of tossing a gun behind the fence, faces several felony charges, including being a felon in possession of a gun, possession of a loaded stolen firearm in public and violating the terms of his probation. Both he and Pereira were held at the jail without the possibility of bail.

Samuel was arrested on suspicion of having a large capacity magazine and possession of a gun with no serial number after deputies found both items near the window he fled the home from, Valencia said. His bail was set at $20,000 and the Sonoma County Jail inmate website showed he was no longer in custody Tuesday afternoon.

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