A violent encounter unfolded on a Santa Rosa street corner earlier this week, leaving a wheelchair-bound man with serious injuries inflicted by an assailant wielding a hammer and a knife. According to a social media post by the Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD), the incident occurred at approximately 3:57 PM on Tuesday near the intersection of S. Wright Road and Finley Avenue, where a 52-year-old transient Santa Rosa man was allegedly attacked while sitting at a bus stop.
The victim, who has yet to be named by authorities, was found with multiple lacerations, contusions, and at least one puncture wound to his arms and leg. He was quickly transported to a local hospital to receive treatment for his considerable injuries. Witnesses present during the assault mentioned that the suspect aggressively approached the man, pushed over his wheelchair, and proceeded to assault him with a hammer and later with a pocketknife. The suspect had left the scene before police officers arrived, but not before witnesses could provide a helpful description.
SRPD officers acted on information from the public and detained Ricky Carver, an 18-year-old transient from Santa Rosa, on Louis Krohn Drive. Carver was found with a hammer and pocketknife, matching the description of the suspect's tools in the attack. The connection was further solidified when an SRPD Downtown Enforcement Team officer recognized Carver as the suspect in a photograph from an earlier unrelated investigation involving a hammer wielded at a retail store.
Following the findings, Ricky Carver was arrested and is currently held in Sonoma County Jail, facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon, with additional charges due to the earlier hammer brandishing incident that are still pending review, amid the charges a bail enhancement of $200,000 was authorized by a Superior Court Judge owing to the nature of Carver’s unprovoked attack on the victim and suspicion of his involvement in another threat with the hammer according to the SRPD statement.
