Man Suspected Of Vandalizing 10 Businesses, Cars In Downtown Petaluma

PETALUMA, CA — Multiple Petaluma community members began their day Wednesday victimized by vandalism.

The Petaluma Police Department received at least 10 reports of vandalism between 5 a.m. and 11:53 a.m. Wednesday. The first call at 5 a.m. was from Martial Arts USA at 822 Petaluma Blvd. North. Someone used a rock to shatter a window to the business.

Officers found the rock inside the business and as they canvassed the area for evidence, they found a second business was vandalized.

A glass window was shattered at Blazing Ace Smoke Shop, 860 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma police Lt. Matthew Parnow said. Officers reviewed video surveillance and identified the vandalism suspect as Jeffrey Berg, a 36-year-old Petaluma resident.

"Law enforcement officers were familiar with Berg from previous incidents and similar crimes," Parnow said.

Berg was previously on supervised release in connection with a similar crime spree in April 2021 in Petaluma where he took to at least 10 vehicles with a shovel and kicked an officer before he was arrested.

Wednesday as the morning progressed, the dispatch center received several more vandalism reports from the downtown area. All had similar patterns of behavior where the suspect/s used a rock or blunt object to break windows to businesses and/or vehicles, Parnow said.

The 10 reports of vandalism received Wednesday morning by the Petaluma PD are mapped below.

With tangible information linking Berg to the first two vandalism reports and at 11:15 a.m., officers with the Petaluma Police Department Community Impact Response Team — CIRT— found Berg at the railroad tracks north of Payran Street near Trestle Bridge.

Once Berg was positively identified, CIRT officers took him into custody on suspicion of two felony counts of vandalism.

He has since been released from Sonoma County jail, records showed Thursday afternoon.

"As for the other eight reported cases of vandalism, our officers are working diligently with our community partners to collect evidence which includes surveillance footage, instruments of the crime (i.e. rocks), fingerprints, and biological evidence," Parnow said. "With such evidence, officers and our support staff could potentially connect the other vandalisms to our known offender."

The Petaluma Police Department was thankful for the community partners who called to report such egregious acts, Parnow said.

Petaluma PD asked anyone with information concerning the incidents to send an email to ppdtips@cityofpetaluma.org or call the police department at 707-778-4372.