SANTA ROSA, Calif. (BCN) — Santa Rosa police arrested a man Friday after he ran over a police sergeant, police said in a statement. At 2:20 a.m., a patrol sergeant assigned to the graveyard shift stopped at the 7-Eleven gas station and convenience store at 136 College Ave. for coffee.
As the officer was leaving, he noticed a vehicle at the gas pump that hadn’t moved since he arrived. Further investigation through an open car window found the driver was passed out. After calling for backup from a nearby unit, the sergeant tried waking the driver.
When the man began waking up, the police officer could see he was likely intoxicated. The driver turned the vehicle off but ignored the sergeant’s requests to exit the vehicle.
The backup officer arrived and opened the passenger side door. The driver then allegedly started the vehicle as the sergeant told him to stop and tried pulling the man from the vehicle.
The driver allegedly put the vehicle into reverse and accelerated, while the sergeant and officer were between the vehicle and the open doors on each side. The sudden reverse acceleration propelled the sergeant backward, knocking him to the ground.
He sustained moderate injuries to his hand, knee, and hip. The officer was also knocked backward. The driver also struck the patrol vehicle behind him, damaging the driver’s side, push bumper, and fender.
The driver then fled onto eastbound College Ave. and southbound onto Interstate 101. Detectives later identified the driver from previous contacts and investigations as Eyvan Olivera, a 29-year-old Santa Rosa resident.
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Officers located Olivera’s vehicle at 4:55 p.m. in the 2000 block of Range Ave. Officers contained the exterior of the apartment where Olivera was suspected to be staying and arrested him without incident.
Olivera was booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, not a firearm, on a police officer and violation of felony probation.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Santa Rosa police through its online tip line at www.srcity.org/CrimeTips or by calling detectives at (707) 543-3595.
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