3 Arrested in Sonoma Grocery Bag Theft

By BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE

Three Turlock men were arrested in American Canyon early this morning after one of them stole a woman's bag at gunpoint in Sonoma, a police sergeant said.

The bag was a small, reusable grocery sack that contained the woman's lunch, and the gun was a BB pistol, Sonoma police Sgt. Dave Thompson said.

The woman was walking to work in the Maxwell Village shopping center at 19201 state Highway 12 around 4 a.m. when a masked man got out of a
black pickup truck, pointed a gun at her and demanded what he thought was her purse, Thompson said.

The woman handed over the bag, which contained some nuts, a peach and some ink pens, and the suspects fled, police said.

The victim called police, and a description of the truck was broadcast to nearby law enforcement agencies, Thompson said. The thief was described as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black mask on his face.

American Canyon police and the Napa County Sheriff's Office stopped the truck around 4:30 a.m. near the Chardonnay Golf Club on Jameson Canyon Road in American Canyon, Thompson said.

They detained three men and found two BB guns, a black ski mask and the woman's lunch bag in the truck, Thompson said.

One of the men, Mark Padilla, 20, was arrested for robbery and possessing stolen property. The other two, Edgar Gonzalez and Jesus Vazquez, both 19, were arrested for possession of stolen property.

Thompson said the three men had attended a party in Santa Rosa prior to the robbery.