Man Arrested for Allegedly Threatening San Mateo Sheriff's Deputy on Social Media

By Bay City News Service:

A car enthusiast who allegedly made threats against a San Mateo County sheriff’s deputy on social media was arrested at his El Granada home Wednesday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.

Gervacio Ronquillo Jr., 23, was arrested when detectives from the sheriff’s office served a search and arrest warrant at his home in the 800 block of Valencia Street at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, sheriff’s officials said.

Investigators obtained the warrants after allegedly discovering the posted threats last week.

The threats, potentially involving explosives, were against a specific deputy who Ronquillo recently encountered, according to the sheriff’s office.

Posts to Ronquillo’s Facebook account on March 3 show him complaining about “harassment” after a traffic stop in Half Moon Bay, where he received a ticket for not having a proper smog check.

Another poster suggests he should have run over the deputy, to which Ronquillo responded, “Trust me, I will soon!” In another post the same day, Ronquillo wrote, “I’m so tired of all this POLICE harrasment (sic), one day the anger will beat my mind and I will make HISTORY and go 5150 on all these sherriffs (sic) in HMB.”

In an Instagram post on March 6, Ronquillo named the deputy who wrote the ticket and wrote, “Yes officer I daily (sic) my car everyday to school, and yes my car is a gross-polluter vehicle that pollutes EVERYDAY.” In comments on the post, Ronquillo also writes, “one day he will get the BULLET” and “I’m gonna plant a timing bomb on his squad car soon just watch.”

Ronquillo’s posts to Facebook and Instagram mainly involve doing work to his car’s engine to make it go faster.

Following his arrest, Ronquillo was booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City under $50,000 bail, according to the sheriff’s office.