Man Arrested With Loaded, Concealed Shotgun In Petaluma: Police

PETALUMA, CA — A man was arrested on suspicion of having a loaded, concealed firearm in public Tuesday night, police said.

Around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, a hysterical woman called 911 and reported a man was acting paranoid and believed people were after him. As officers were responding to the man's location at 125 Western Ave., the woman informed dispatchers he was known to carry a gun, Petaluma police said in a news release.

The woman identified the man as 34-year-old Solomon Griffith of Oakland and said he had a shotgun in his car but she did not know if he had it on his person.

As officers arrived, they saw Griffith grab a large duffel bag before he fled on foot southbound on Keller Street, Petaluma police Lt. Garrett Glaviano said.

"Officers quickly determined Griffith had in fact retrieved the shotgun from the vehicle and was in possession of it," Glaviano said. "Multiple officers responded to the area and began searching for Griffith."

Officers located Griffith around 8:30 p.m. at 5th and A streets. He was taken into custody based on the information that he was armed with a gun and had initially fled from officers, Glaviano said.

Griffith longer had the duffel bag he was seen fleeing with and he was not armed with a gun.

Petaluma Police K-9 Jax was called out to help find the duffel bag and the gun. A short time later, the bag was found hidden in the bushes of a front yard of a home in the 400 block of A Street.

A loaded, 12-gauge shotgun was recovered from inside the bag, police said.

Griffth was later booked into the Sonoma County jail for possession of a concealed, loaded firearm in public. He was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail, jail records showed Wednesday.