Sheriff: gang member arrested with loaded handgun after search of Santa Rosa neighborhood

One man was arrested Monday after rival gang members - one armed with a loaded handgun - got into a confrontation in a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood.

Rico Lemay, 27, remained in custody in the Sonoma County Jail Monday, suspected of nine felony charges including assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, possessing the gun and having narcotics for sale.

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies arrested Lemay late Saturday night after they were called to Brooks and East Robles avenues about 11:30 p.m. about a man brandishing a gun, Sgt. Spencer Crum said in a news release.

Two men, described as rival gang members, had gotten into an argument in the area. One held a handgun at his side and walked toward the rival, who was sitting in a vehicle with his girlfriend and children, Crum said. The man in the car drove away and Lemay disappeared into the neighborhood.

Lemay was arrested after a neighbor alerted deputies that someone was hiding in their backyard under a blanket. A search of the area by Boomer, a deputy’s bomb-sniffing police dog, turned up Lemay’s backpack, Crum said. It held a loaded .9-mm handgun, face masks, gloves, methamphetamine and heroin packets for sale, he said.

Lemay, a convicted felon, was being held without bail.