Felon With Gun Arrested By Sonoma Co. Deputy Responding To Fight Call

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A man on probation was arrested for allegedly possessing a loaded handgun when a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy responded to a report of a fight in a rural area of Sonoma's north coast, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

A deputy encountered Robert Southwick, 31, of Santa Rosa, with a gun while responding to a call about two men fighting with sticks around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday on Stewart Point-Skaggs Springs Road near Stewarts Point Rancheria.

There were five bullets in the .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, one of them in the chamber ready to fire, according to the sheriff's office.

The gun did not have a serial number and Southwick did not explain how he acquired the gun.

The deputy then learned Southwick was one of the two men who were in a fight, but neither man was injured and neither wanted to press charges, sheriff's officials said.

Southwick, a convicted felon, was placed on probation five days earlier, and he was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, violating his probation and carrying a concealed, loaded handgun.

He was booked under no bail in Sonoma County Jail.

By Bay City News Service

Photo via Sonoma County Sheriff's Office