LAKE COUNTY ? Santa Rosa police arrested a 17-year-old, male Kelseyville resident on a murder charge Wednesday in connection with a Monday night shooting in Santa Rosa.
The Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD) received a call reporting shots were fired at 9:38 p.m. on Monday in the area of Grand and Pressley avenues, according to a Wednesday Santa Rosa Police Department press release. Callers told 9-1-1 dispatchers a man had been shot and was on the ground. The victim, later identified as Santa Rosa resident Luis Suarez, 18, died at the scene.
“We have established that it”s gang-related. We don”t give the names of gangs involved in any incident so that we don”t give the gangs notoriety and create occasion for retaliation,” SRPD Sgt. Lisa Banayat said Friday.
Detectives from Santa Rosa”s Violent Crime and Gang Crime Investigations teams interviewed suspects and witnesses and followed leads from the public, according to the release. Banayat said she did not have the details of the investigating officer”s report that determined the shooting was gang-related.
“I don”t know that he (the Kelseyville teen) was a documented gang member, but I know he has associates who are in gangs,” Banayat said.
Police arrested the Kelseyville teen and Santa Rosa resident Fernando Mendoza, 20, after questioning on Wednesday. They were inside a car spotted in the area of Santa Rosa Avenue and Court Street that matched the description of a car seen in the area of the shooting, according to the release. Mendoza was arrested on charge of parole violation and booked at the Sonoma County Jail. The Kelseyville teen was transported to the Santa Rosa Juvenile Justice Center. Banayat said the Sonoma County District Attorney”s Office is making a determination about whether to try him as an adult. Because he is a minor, his name cannot be released unless he is tried as an adult.
The teen appeared in Sonoma County Superior Court Friday afternoon for arraignment, but Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Bob Waner could not be reached for comment by the Record-Bee”s press time Friday night.
Banayat said police are still pursuing suspects in the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Brad Conners of the SRPD Violent Crimes Team at 543-3590.
The Sonoma County Alliance”s “Take Back Our Community” program is offering a $2,500 reward for anyone who provides information to the SRPD that leads to the arrest of the involved suspects.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
