In Santa Rosa, a quieter Christmas was shattered by brash illegality when officers were called to Stony Point Road and Sebastopol Road following a report of a firearm threat in broad daylight. According to the Santa Rosa Police Department, the report was filed at approximately 3:50 p.m. yesterday, where a suspect, now identified as Edgar Silva-Mendoza, was said to have brandished a semi-automatic handgun before fleeing the scene.
The information shared by the victim led law enforcement on a rapid pursuit; they soon located the vehicle, a mere stone's throw away in the 1000 block of Kenmore Lane, and subsequently found Edgar Silva-Mendoza, a 29-year-old local of the Santa Rosa community, making his way from the vehicle into a residence which was presumably his own. Here, the victim confirmed Silva-Mendoza's identity, connecting the dots between the accused and the disturbing event earlier.
Diving deeper into the case revealed that Edgar was not alone in his brush with the law. Officers recognized him as someone currently under the purview of the justice system due to probation. As they searched his residence, they also stumbled upon Frederick Silva-Mendoza, Edgar's kin, who, at 31, was himself entangled in the legal web, out on bail with search clauses threaded through his temporary freedom. A search of Frederick's quarters led to the discovery of not just one but two firearms—the described black Smith and Wesson .40 caliber and another, a silver Jimenez Arms .380—yielding evidence and precipitating arrests for both men.
The charges laid out are straightforward yet severe: Edgar Silva-Mendoza faces misdemeanor charges for threatening with a weapon in public and violating probation whilst adding the serious note of a felony for unlawful possession of a firearm, and his relative Frederick Silva-Mendoza is confronting a felony charge for acting as an accessory and another for committing a felony while already released on bail.
