An Officer Safety Bulletin has been issued to Mendocino County law enforcement regarding a Petaluma man with ties to the Norteño street gang who reportedly fought Petaluma Police Officers yesterday, rammed their vehicles, and then fled.
A Nixle Alert issued by Petaluma Police officers found Steven Michael Perez loading items into a truck of a recently reported stolen vehicle yesterday. Officers approached Perez when he became combative “causing one of the officers to fall to the ground where she received minor injuries that required minor medical attention later.”
The suspect then attempted to flee, and upon finding himself boxed in by two marked police vehicles, Perez “then intentionally rammed two marked police vehicles that had boxed the vehicle in. Both patrol vehicles were still occupied by officers, and the subject rammed the officers in an apparent attempt to escape.”
Perez successfully fled the scene, officers lost sight of him temporarily and proved elusive after his car was found but he was nowhere to be seen.
This morning’s Officer Safety Bulletin was the first identification of the suspect and also revealed Perez has been known to carry firearms, has faced charges of illegal possession of firearms, and is associated with the Norteño street gang.
Steven Michael Perez was described as 5’ 11’’, 180 lbs, brown hair and eyes, and wearing a dark-colored Carhartt sweatshirt with a hood.
