SRPD arrests man following hammer and knife attack.

On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at approximately 3:57 PM, officers with the Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD) were dispatched to the area of S. Wright Road and Finley Avenue to a report of a possible stabbing. Officers rushed to the scene and located the male victim, a 52-year-old wheelchair-bound transient from Santa Rosa, at the bus stop near the intersection. The victim appeared to have suffered multiple lacerations, contusions, and at least one puncture wound to his arms and one leg. The victim was transported to an area hospital by ambulance to be treated for significant injuries. 

Officers learned the victim was sitting in his wheelchair near the bus stop when another man aggressively approached him and pushed over his wheelchair unprovoked. The suspect then produced a hammer from his waistband and began violently hitting the victim on his arm. The suspect then used a pocketknife to slash the victim. The suspect left the area before the police arrived. Witnesses to the incident were able to provide officers with a description of the suspect. Officers searched the area and located a man matching the suspect’s description walking in the 3900 block of Louis Krohn Drive. Ricky Carver, an 18-year-old transient from Santa Rosa, was detained without incident while officers continued their investigation. A hammer and pocketknife were in Carver’s possession at the time he was detained.  

Based on evidence recovered and witness accounts, officers determined Carver was the assailant in this incident. Early in the investigation, one of the responding officers believed Carver brandished a hammer at employees of a downtown retail store after returning items he was attempting to steal earlier the same day but had left the store before police arrived. During that investigation, the officer was able to obtain a photo of the then unidentified suspect which was distributed among SRPD personnel. An officer assigned to the SRPD Downtown Enforcement Team believed Carver was the suspect in the photograph. 

Carver was arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail for 245(a)(1) PC, assault with a deadly weapon. Charges for his alleged brandishing of a hammer earlier the same day were also requested and are pending review.  

Due to Carver’s unprovoked attack on the victim and the suspicion he brandished the hammer at other victims on a separate occasion, a bail enhancement of $200,000 was authorized by a Sonoma County Superior Court Judge.  

SRPD case numbers 25-6924 and 25-6937. 

Media inquiries can be made to Sgt. Nick Gillotte at ngillotte@srcity.org.