During a routine patrol, the Santa Rosa Police Department's Special Enforcement Team (SET) made a significant find yesterday. Near Tan Oak Court and Northcoast Street, officers approached a vehicle whose occupants were allegedly smoking marijuana. Upon contacting the individuals, 20-year-old Alejandro Medina-Ballesteros and 29-year-old Jose Fuentes, both residents of Santa Rosa, loose marijuana and an empty bottle of Promethazine, a substance commonly mixed with soda to create "Lean," were observed in the vehicle.
The situation escalated when the two men refused to exit the car and engaged in an argument with the officers before eventually being detained, as detailed by the Santa Rosa Police in a social media post. A search of the vehicle yielded about 1.5 pounds of marijuana, two more bottles of suspected Promethazine, and an unserialized "Poly 80" 9mm handgun that was loaded and concealed. Fuentes, who has a prior felony conviction and is legally prohibited from owning firearms or ammunition, violated multiple laws due to the presence of the weapon.
Both men now face serious charges. Fuentes was booked on various counts, including the possession of a loaded firearm in public, control of a concealed firearm, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, among others. Medina-Ballesteros was arrested for possession of an unregistered firearm and resisting arrest, along with related charges.
