Body found at northwest Petaluma home, deputies say

A busy northwest Petaluma street was shut down for several hours Wednesday as Sonoma County deputies investigated the death of a man found in his home.

The man’s caretaker initially reported the death as suspicious to authorities, but the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office later determined that was not the case, spokesman Sgt. Spencer Crum said. Wednesday’s investigation shut down access to the southbound lanes of Petaluma Boulevard North, near Skillman Lane, where deputies were called to the man’s home at around 3:20 p.m.

The caretaker told authorities she had tried to contact the man for several days and decided to alert authorities when the man’s 43-year-old son, who lived at the house, told her his father had died either the previous night or that morning. The son hadn’t yet reported the death to police, Crum said.

Sheriff’s deputies set up a perimeter, closed down the road and surrounded the house. The 43-year-old man peacefully surrendered to police when they reached him by phone that afternoon. They located his father’s body once inside.

“There was some inconsistency in what we saw versus what the 43-year-old was telling us,” Crum said. “It appeared the man had been deceased maybe a little bit longer than what he was describing.”

A bomb squad was called out after deputies reported finding possible explosives in the home, though those reports turned out to be unfounded. Crum said the man was known to reload his own bullets with gunpowder.

The man was released from custody after deputies found no obvious signs of foul play, Crum said.

The coroner will investigate the cause of death, he said.

Northbound lanes of Petaluma Boulevard North were reopened to traffic at about 6:43 p.m.

Staff Writer Martin Espinoza contributed to the story. You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.