Man Arrested For Assault With A Golf Club; Victim In Critical Condition: Santa Rosa Police

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- Police in Santa Rosa said they arrested a man Saturday after he allegedly struck another man with a golf club, resulting in a serious head injury that left the victim hospitalized in critical condition.

Santa Rosa police officers were dispatched to the scene on Howard Street at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday when callers reported seeing a man with a golf club chasing another man who was riding a bicycle. The officers arrived to find a parked vehicle with a damaged windshield, a bicycle in the street, a backpack and other personal items strewn across the roadway.

Soon, the officers were approached by the victim's family members, who told them the victim was suffering from a head injury. Paramedics were summoned to the scene and the 33-year-old man was transported to a local hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

As the incident was investigated, police determined the victim and the suspect, later identified as Roderick Anthony Bell, 48, were involved in an argument near Bell's residence that escalated into Bell arming himself with a golf club and going after the other man.

But Bell wasn't able to immediately catch the other man and began walking home -- until he saw the man riding his bicycle toward him and struck him with the golf club, police allege.

The impact caused the victim to crash his bicycle into a parked vehicle, sending him onto the windshield of the vehicle, police said.

After determining Bell was the suspect, police arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury.

Bell was booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility, where he remained in lieu of $150,000 bail pending a court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

The Santa Rosa Police Department's Violent Crimes Team is continuing its investigation of the incident; anyone with information was asked to call 707-543-3590.