Petaluma man shoots at victim asking him to move truck: sheriff

(KRON) — A driver who was allegedly blocking the entrance to a Petaluma property on Saturday night shot at a man who approached and asked him to leave, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies responded around 10 p.m. to the 1000 block of Sonoma Mountain Road on the report of a shooting. Authorities said the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Gabriel Chavez, of Petaluma, was in a pickup truck with one passenger when he blocked a property’s entrance.

Several people approached Chavez in the truck to ask him to move, according to SCSO. Chavez then allegedly pointed a handgun toward one man and fired one round before driving away.

After fleeing the alleged shooting, Chavez crashed the truck down the road, the sheriff’s office said. Arriving deputies detained both Chavez and the passenger at the scene of the crash.

A search of the area near where Chavez was standing uncovered an unregistered handgun, five high-capacity magazines and 48 rounds of ammunition, according to authorities.

Chavez was arrested and booked into jail for assault with a deadly weapon, shooting from a vehicle, unlawful possession of a firearm, exhibition of a loaded firearm, negligent discharge of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon in public and possession of high-capacity magazines.

The passenger “did not commit a crime and was taken to a hospital for treatment,” SCSO said.