A 72-year-old Petaluma attorney is facing felony charges after San Rafael police say he threatened to shoot and kill employees at a downtown bank following a dispute over his account, and then was found with two unregistered rifles when officers arrested him at his home. Frear Stephen Schmid was booked into Marin County Jail last Tuesday on charges of felony criminal threats and illegal possession of unserialized firearms.
According to the San Rafael Police Department, Schmid walked into the Citibank branch on Third Street in downtown San Rafael just after 1:10 p.m. last Tuesday to address an issue with his bank account. As reported by KRON4, Schmid grew upset with employees during the exchange and, per the SRPD statement, threatened to shoot and kill them. Bank staff locked the doors as a safety precaution, and Schmid left only after being asked several times to go.
Detectives spent the following days working to identify him. Investigators pulled Citibank surveillance footage and confirmed his identity, then determined he had a legally registered firearm, which helped trace him back to a residence in Petaluma, according to the San Rafael Police Department. That work led to a felony arrest warrant for criminal threats as well as a Gun Violence Restraining Order, a civil tool under California Penal Code § 18100 that lets police petition a court to temporarily bar a dangerous person from buying or possessing firearms.
Arrest Uncovers Unregistered Rifles
Detectives arrested Schmid at his Petaluma home on Tuesday without incident and seized every firearm found on the property under the GVRO. The search turned up two unserialized rifles alongside his registered weapons, the department said. Possessing a so-called ghost gun - a firearm lacking a state or federal serial number - is illegal under California Penal Code § 29180, and state law treats each unserialized weapon as a separate criminal violation, meaning the discovery adds significant legal exposure beyond the original threats allegation.
The San Rafael Police Department is asking anyone with additional information about the case to call (415) 485-3000.
A Longtime Bay Area Attorney With a Public Legal History
Schmid is not a stranger to Bay Area legal circles. State Bar of California records show he has been an active attorney since 1980, practicing real estate and personal injury law out of Petaluma and San Francisco for more than 45 years. He previously drew public attention for a high-profile legal fight against the City and County of San Francisco over the removal of the “Early Days” pioneer statue near Civic Center, a case that reached the California Court of Appeals in a February 2021 ruling detailed by FindLaw. Hoodline previously covered his statue fight back in 2018, when a city board ruled the monument must remain.
Part of a Broader Red-Flag and Ghost Gun Trend
Cases like Schmid's reflect a wider pattern across California. Statewide use of Gun Violence Restraining Orders has climbed significantly since 2021, ten years after the state's Red Flag law first took effect in 2016, according to the California Department of Justice. Ghost gun recoveries by state law enforcement have surged as well, rising from just 11 weapons seized in 2014 to more than 10,000 annually in recent years, per a separate DOJ report. The department's statewide crime statistics released in July also show California's overall violent crime rate fell 5.3% in 2024, even though aggravated assault rates involving firearms have stayed above pre-pandemic levels.
It remains unclear whether the Marin County District Attorney's Office will formally file felony charges on both counts against Schmid, and whether the State Bar of California will pursue any disciplinary action regarding his active law license. The specific nature of the banking dispute that triggered the confrontation at Citibank has also not been detailed.
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