Santa Rosa Man Receives Life Sentence for Joe Rodota Trail Shooting
Defendant Steven Carter Strawn, forty-three years old, of Santa Rosa, was sentenced this morning by the Honorable Lynnette Brown to serve 50 years to life after he was convicted by a jury on November 10, 2025, for two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with an assault weapon, possession of an assault weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The defendant had previously been convicted of three prior strike offenses under California’s Three Strikes Law.
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2024 March 12 - John Rector
On March 12, 2024, fifty-five-year-old John Rector shot himself in the head with his own firearm inside the Best Western Petaluma Inn while law enforcement was attempting to take him into custody. Mr. Rector died as a result of this gunshot wound a few days later. Following the infliction of the gunshot wound, the Santa Rosa Police Department invoked the Sonoma County Law Enforcement Employee-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol (“protocol”). The purpose of this protocol is to set forth procedures and guidelines to be used by Sonoma County law enforcement agencies in the criminal investigation of specifically defined incidents involving law enforcement employees. Under this protocol an outside law enforcement agency is designated to investigate officer-involved fatalities.
Amazon Warns of New Scam Emails
Amazon recently advised its subscribers of a new round of scam emails purporting to be from Amazon either about delivery of an item that was not ordered or increase in the cost of a Prime Membership. The email contains a link to cancel the subscription due to the purported increase in cost which leads to a fake site requesting input of membership information that then allows scammers to access your Amazon account.
DMV Scam Text Message Re Failure to Pay Tolls
Text messages have recently been sent advising recipients that they have failed to pay a toll which will result in additional penalties and also the DMV suspending your vehicle registration. This is a scam. DMV does not send out text messages. This is similar to prior alert regarding fake texts and emails threatening penalties for non-payment of tolls.
Press Releases
Santa Rosa Man Receives Life Sentence for Joe Rodota Trail Shooting
Defendant Steven Carter Strawn, forty-three years old, of Santa Rosa, was sentenced this morning by the Honorable Lynnette Brown to serve 50 years to life after he was convicted by a jury on November 10, 2025, for two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with an assault weapon, possession of an assault weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The defendant had previously been convicted of three prior strike offenses under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Rohnert Park man sentenced to 8 years in prison for domestic violence causing severe injury
Defendant John Steven Lombardo, forty-nine years old, of Rohnert Park, was sentenced today to serve 8 years in state prison by the Honorable Gloria F. Rhynes after pleading no contest in January of this year to felony charges of domestic violence causing great bodily injury, as well as a violation of a domestic violence criminal protective order.
Sonoma County Jury Returns Guilty Verdict on 1982 Cloverdale Murder
Defendant James Oliver Unick was convicted today by a Sonoma County jury of murdering 13-year-old Sarah Geer in 1982. As a result of the jury’s verdict of guilty and finding true that the defendant committed a special circumstance related to the sexual assault during the commission of the murder, the defendant will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
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