Agencies Collaborate in Arrest of Armed Suspects of Violent Home Invasion
SANTA ROSA – Shortly before noon Wednesday on Highway 101, Windsor Police Officers working a special enforcement in the vicinity of Geyserville stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. The car reeked of marijuana and the four men inside gave varying accounts of their travels to Ukiah from Southern California. Officers noted that one man had heavy-duty zip-ties protruding from his pocket.
The officers utilized a police K9 trained in the detection of narcotics to sniff the vehicle. The dog alerted on various parts of the car, and they found approximately 10 pounds of marijuana in various forms of packaging.
After unloading the car, officers had quite a collection of drugs and weapons on thier hands.
Officers also located an assault rifle, a shotgun, additional zip-ties, three black bandanas, a black ski mask, binoculars, shotgun shells, brass knuckles, a paintball gun and two computers in the trunk of the car.
Because of the variety of weapons and suspicious items deputies called upon detectives to look into the circumstances. Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office detectives from Crime Scene Investigations and Narcotics and Violent Crimes Investigations collaborated with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and determined that the suspects may have been involved in an earlier home invasion robbery near Ukiah.
The men were identified as 29-year-old Christopher Montoya, 24-year-old Jose Israel Cabrera, 25-year-old Jonathan Otero-Cruz of San Bernardino and 38-year-old Filomino Espinoza Nunez of Compton. All were booked into the Sonoma County Jail in Santa Rosa for conspiracy, transportation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of brass knuckles and possession of an assault rifle.
Additionally, Cabrera and Nunez had prior felony convictions and were also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cruz was also booked for smuggling a quarter ounce of suspected methamphetamine into the jail. Bails have been enhanced to $500,000.
