Petaluma Man Sentenced After Pleading to Lewd Conduct on Three Separate Occasions at Petaluma Shopping Center

Defendant Dan Edward Scheiner, fifty three years old of Petaluma, was sentenced today by the Honorable Barbara Phelan after having pled no contest on January 25, 2018 to three counts of engaging in lewd conduct, all misdemeanors. The defendant was ordered to register as a sex offender, will be on probation for four years, and will be required to serve sixty days in the Sonoma County jail.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “This defendant engaged in predatory conduct.  This sentence assures he will be supervised in the community by the probation department, and he will be tracked through the sex offender database.”

The charges resulted from three separate incidences involving three separate women. On June 7, 2017, a 36 year old woman was leaving work at the Factory Outlets in Petaluma when she saw Scheiner sitting in his car where he appeared to be masturbating.  Scheiner told the woman he was a “voyeur” and asked her to stand by while he continued to masturbate.  The woman was subsequently able to identify Scheiner to law enforcement.

On July 18, 2017, Petaluma police officers received a call from a 24 year old woman who was also parked in the Factory Outlets. The woman indicated Scheiner pulled up next to her in his vehicle and was masturbating. The woman moved her vehicle to another location in the parking lot and Scheiner repositioned his vehicle next to hers and was again masturbating. The woman called 911 and Scheiner was contacted at the scene by law enforcement.

On December 12, 2017 a 28 year old woman was leaving work at the same shopping outlets and was waiting for her windshield to defrost when she observed Scheiner in his vehicle masturbating.  Scheiner motioned for the woman to come over to his vehicle. The woman backed out of her parking space and took a picture of the man’s license plate.  With her description of the vehicle, and the license plate, law enforcement was able to determine the vehicle belonged to Scheiner.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Matt Hobson and assisted by Santa Rosa Police Officer Riley Howard.