Botched Drug Deal Leads To School Lockdown, Robbery Arrest: Cops

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A Santa Rosa man was arrested Wednesday after a Larkfield drug deal went bad and forced a temporary lockdown of a Santa Rosa elementary school, according to a news release from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

The incident involving 25-year-old Raymond Burt began at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when deputies were dispatched to a report at Vineyard Creek Apartments — just west of U.S. Highway 101 off Airport Boulevard — about a stolen Louis Vuitton handbag, sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

An 18-year-old resident of the apartment complex told deputies a man in a black Jeep Cherokee — later identified as Burt — had approached him in the parking lot and asked whether the Louis Vuitton bag was a real one or a fake.

When the victim said it was a real Louis Vuitton, Burt reportedly got out his car and grabbed the bag, leading the 18-year-old on a foot chase. The victim yelled for help, prompting several employees of the apartment complex to also start chasing Burt in an effort to get the bag back, Crum said.

The victim and the employees then watched as Burt emptied the contents of the bag into his car and drove off, throwing the bag out of his car window, Crum said.

"The victim told deputies the suspect got away with about $350 cash and some Xanax pills," Crum said.

After a description of Burt, his car and a partial license plate number were broadcast over the sheriff's radio, a deputy spotted the Jeep Cherokee going southbound on Fulton Road.

"The Jeep made an abrupt turn onto Francisco Boulevard went around a gate that blocks the road, went into the parking lot of Jack London Elementary School and came back out onto Francisco Avenue at which point the deputy lost sight of it," Crum said.

The school was temporarily locked down for safety of the students, as Burt had sped through their lot and it wasn’t known if he was possibly armed, according to the sergeant.

Deputies soon located the Jeep not far from the school, parked in the driveway of a home on Waltzer Road.

Burt was determined to be the registered owner of the car, and the residence where it was parked was his mother's, Crum said.

"Deputies surrounded the home but couldn't get the suspect to come out," Crum said. "When his mother arrived home shortly thereafter, she allowed deputies to enter [and] search for Burt."

As the deputies went inside, Burt came out of a bedroom and pretended he had been asleep, Crum said.

Deputies took Burt into custody without further incident.

"After further questioning of the suspect and victim, it was determined they both knew each other and that this was a planned drug transaction over Xanax pills and cocaine," Crum said. "At one point there was a disagreement and Burt stole the victim’s handbag which contained both Xanax and cash."

The Louis Vuitton bag, cash and Xanax were found in Burt's car and were kept as evidence, the sergeant said.

Burt was booked into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of felony robbery but has since been released on a $50,000 bail bond, according to the sheriff's office.

It was not immediately clear whether the cocaine ever surfaced or if the 18-year-old was facing any potential charges in connection with the incident.