Santa Rosa police find loaded handguns during traffic stop, chase suspects through school campus

Police recovered three loaded handguns and arrested two Santa Rosa men and two 17-year-old boys Wednesday following a traffic stop and foot chase that took one of the suspects and a pursuing officer through the campus of a charter school, police reported.

One of the weapons recovered came from Eyvan Olvera, 25, a passenger in the front seat of the dark-colored BMW who fled the traffic stop and ran through the grounds of the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts on Humboldt Street, police said.

Children at an after-school daycare were playing on the school grounds at the time, about 4:05 p.m., and an officer on patrol in downtown was able to pursue Olvera on foot, detaining him after he’d jumped over a fence on the east side of the school, police said. The incident prompted a lockdown of the campus, the school’s principal, Kristen Vogel, said in a letter to parents on Thursday.

The officer saw Olvera toss something during the pursuit, and with the help of a witness, found a loaded handgun among shrubs along their route. Police did not say if the gun had been found on the school grounds.

“During the tail end of the pursuit, he had thrown it over a fence in an effort to conceal it,” Sgt. Tommy Isachsen said.

The traffic stop began when Santa Rosa gang detectives attempted to stop the BMW for an alleged traffic infraction near College Avenue and Humboldt Street, police reported.

The car slowed but kept moving toward the entrance of the nearby Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts on Humboldt. Two of the passengers, including Olvera and one of the teenagers, then ran in different directions as the car came to a stop, police said. The two other males in the car were detained at gunpoint.

The 17-year-old boy who fled the traffic stop and ran toward Benton Street was found hiding in a home’s driveway, where he was taken into custody, police said. He was cited with resisting arrest after running from police and was released to a parent.

A second gun was found inside the BMW, police said. The teenage passenger who remained in the car during the stop told officers he didn’t have any weapons but a loaded handgun was found inside the waistband of his pants after a pat-down search, police said. Police did not disclose the names of the teenagers because of their ages.

Police later served search warrants at two homes related to people in the car to look for more weapons. At one of the homes, located in the 200 block of South East Street, officers found small plastic bags filled with a few ounces of cocaine for sale that they believe belonged to Olvera.

He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of several crimes, including carrying a loaded firearm in public, possessing narcotics for sale, participating in a gang and resisting arrest. The driver, Angel Rincon Gallardo, 26, was booked on suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm.

Officers took the 17-year-old found with a handgun to the county’s juvenile detention center, where he was booked on suspicion of carrying a loaded firearm, possessing a firearm not registered to him and participating in a gang.

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