City of Santa Rosa, CA, CivicReady Public Safety Alerts & Notifications
SRPD News Release: Man arrested after prolonged standoff following his threats to stab an employee and set off explosives at a local business
Man arrested after prolonged standoff following his threats to stab an employee and set off explosives at a local business
On Sunday, October 13, 2024, at approximately 10:05 am, officers with the Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD) were dispatched to a retail establishment in Coddingtown Center regarding a report of a man who had called the business 29 times in approximately 30 minutes making threats to employees and the business over the phone, including a threat to set off explosives in the store. The man then came into the store a short time later and brandished a knife at employees in a threatening manner. The man, identified later as Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes, a 56-year-old resident of Santa Rosa, left the store before police arrival. As he was leaving, he threatened he would return and “stab someone.”Employees of the SRPD Communications Center were familiar with Fuentes as he had called the 911 emergency line more than 100 times between 10/12/24 and 10/13/24, threatening police department staff.
Once identifying Fuentes as the suspect in this incident, officers responded to Fuentes’s apartment in the 1600 block of Herbert Street and attempted to contact him. Fuentes refused to open the door, only speaking briefly with officers from a balcony and through windows. Short conversations between Fuentes and officers occurred for more than an hour before Fuentes advised officers he would no longer speak with them. Officers continued to try to speak with Fuentes, however, he ignored their attempts. Two officers remained near the apartment in the event Fuentes attempted to leave his apartment.
At approximately 7:20 am on October 14, 2024, SRPD officers returned to the apartment to contact Fuentes. Fuentes refused to answer the door for officers. Detectives with the SRPD Violent Crimes Investigations Team (VCI) authored a search warrant for Fuentes’s apartment and an arrest warrant for Fuentes based on his threats toward the employees of the business in the Coddingtown Center. Both the search and arrest warrants were approved by a Sonoma County Superior Court Judge.
Members of the SRPD Hostage Negotiations Team (HNT) spoke with Fuentes numerous times via telephone for more than 5 hours. After hours of conversations with Fuentes, he continued to refuse to turn himself in. Based on the serious threats to the business and employees at Coddingtown Center, a full activation of the SRPD Tactical Teams was implemented.
Fuentes continued to refuse to comply with instructions to surrender peacefully, and at one point, threatened to shoot officers from his balcony. Due to Fuentes’s refusal to surrender, threats to community members, threats to use firearms against officers, and his escalating behavior, SRPD evacuated the surrounding apartments and members of the SRPD SWAT team surrounded Fuentes’s apartment. For approximately one hour, SWAT team members tried to negotiate with Fuentes, but he continued to threaten officers and refused to surrender.
With nearby apartments evacuated, SWAT deployed CS gas, commonly referred to as “tear gas,” into the apartment. Upon deploying the gas, SWAT members forced open the front door of the apartment and were almost immediately met by Fuentes, who had chosen to surrender when exposed to the CS gas. Chemical agents such as CS gas are used during high-risk situations to gain voluntary compliance by causing the temporary discomfort of a potentially dangerous person.
Fuentes was taken into custody without further incident. VCI detectives searched Fuentes’s apartment pursuant to the search warrant. A knife believed to be used in the brandishing incident at Coddingtown Center was recovered.
Fuentes was booked into Sonoma County Jail for felony criminal threats per 422 PC. A bail enhancement of $2,000,000 was approved.
Santa Rosa Police Department case #24-12066.
Media inquiries can be made to Sgt. Patricia Seffens at 707-543-3634 or pseffens@srcity.org.
