Father, Son Make Citizens' Arrests At Petaluma Outlet Center: Police

PETALUMA, CA — Two men helped take down two thieves Thursday at the Petaluma outlet center, police said.

Officers were dispatched shortly after 12:30 p.m. Thursday to a report of a robbery that had just occurred at Sunglass Hut in the Petaluma Village Premium Outlets at 2200 Petaluma Blvd. North.

The person calling on behalf of the store told police dispatchers over the phone that two suspects, later identified as Casey Canion and Keiarra Spencer, had gathered over $18,000 in merchandise and tried to leave the store without paying when a security guard tried to stop them.

The caller said Spencer and Canion pushed through a door, got past the security guard and continued trying to leave with the merchandise.

Multiple Petaluma police officers arrived at the scene and saw that two citizens had made a citizen's arrest and detained Canion and Spencer just outside the store.

The two citizens— a father and his adult son —told officers they were shopping at the Petaluma Outlet Center when they saw the two women running toward them with the security guard shouting and chasing after them.

The father and son realized some sort of crime had just taken place so one grabbed Canion while the other grabbed Spencer. The suspects immediately began struggling to get away from the two men.

Canion sprayed pepper spray at the one who detaining her but he took her to the ground and continued to detain her—with pepper spray still in his eyes —until police arrived.

Canion and Spencer —both 20-year-old female residents of Antioch — were taken into custody by police without further incident and were later booked into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of felony robbery and felony conspiracy to commit robbery. Canion was also booked on suspicion of felony illegal use of a tear gas weapon, Petaluma police Sgt. Jake Gutierrez said.

The man who was pepper-sprayed was treated by Petaluma Fire Department medics.

"Although the Petaluma Police Department encourages citizens to be good witnesses and not physically get involved in crimes in progress for their own safety, we are very thankful to the two citizens for their courageous actions which led to the arrest of Canion and Spencer," Gutierrez said. "As a result of the two citizens' actions, more than $18,000 in stolen merchandise was returned to the store and a serious crime was thwarted in our community."