Sonoma Co. Deputies Use Foam Projectile To Arrest Petaluma Man

PETALUMA, CA — Sonoma County sheriff's deputies took a less-than-lethal approach Tuesday while dealing with a 22-year-old man who was not cooperative when they responded to a report that he was threatening to stab his mother, a sheriff's office spokesman said.

The incident involving Omar Saldana Campos started at about 4:35 p.m. when Campos' father called sheriff's dispatch and said his son tried to stab his mother with a folding knife, according to sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum.

"The man claimed his son was seeing and hearing things, losing his mind and that he had been taking illegal drugs," Crum said.

When deputies arrived at the family's home in the 700 block of Casa Grande Road in unincorporated Petaluma, they made contact with Campos in the driveway but he did not cooperate, Crum said.

"At one point he dropped a broom he was holding and tried to walk away," Crum said. "As deputies attempted to verbally deescalate the situation Campos pulled a folding knife out of his waistband, unfolded the approximate 3-inch blade and held it to his neck as he asked the deputies 'what was up' and made vulgar comments to them."

As a Spanish-speaking deputy tried to calm Campos down, Campos reportedly got more agitated and started screaming vulgarities at the deputies, Crum said.

When Campos started walking toward the deputies with the knife to his neck, one of the deputies fired a foam-tipped projectile from a 40-caliber, less-than-lethal launcher, Crum said.

The projectile hit Campos in the stomach which dropped him to a seated position, Crum said, at which point Campos let go of the knife and the deputies took him into custody.

"After clearing Campos at a local hospital, he was booked for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and resisting arrest," Crum said.

Sonoma County jail records showed Campos remained in custody Wednesday afternoon with his bail set at $30,000 pending a court appearance set for Thursday.