Guerneville Man Sentenced to Maximum Term in Prison for Assaulting an Elderly Victim

Defendant David Bowen Farwell, 35 years old of Guerneville, was sentenced yesterday in Sonoma County Superior Court by the Honorable Bradford DeMeo to serve eight years in state prison after being found guilty by a jury in February of assaulting an elderly victim.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “This was an unprovoked attack on a vulnerable victim. This defendant’s prior criminal history also allowed the court to impose a more significant sentence.”

The victim, a 66-year-old retired Guerneville resident, regularly entertained locals and tourists by playing his musical instrument, a Yamaha Wind Controller, in front of the historic ice-cream shop on Main Street. On a morning over Labor Day weekend in 2021, the victim parked his truck in a lot across the street from where he intended to play, and put some of his equipment in front of the ice-cream shop. While he made the short trip back to his truck to retrieve a battery, Farwell got a hold of his horn and waived it around on the sidewalk while rambling incoherent words. The defendant then handed the horn to a bystander and attacked the victim. Farwell kicked the victim in the chest and threw punches at his head causing him to fall onto the street, strike his head on the pavement, and lose consciousness. Numerous bystanders came to his aid and called 911. Multiple sheriff’s deputies arrived and Farwell actively resisted being taken into custody before he was ultimately detained.

On Feb. 3, 2022 Farwell was convicted by a jury of felony assault and resisting arrest. He was thereafter found by the court to have suffered a previous “strike” offense for committing a residential burglary in Sonoma County in 2011. Due to the unprovoked violent assault on an elderly victim and Bowen Farwell’s lengthy criminal history, Judge DeMeo sentenced Bowen Farwell to the maximum allowed sentence of eight years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jensen and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Marianna Green.

Contact Information: