SANTA ROSA – It was Saturday afternoon, August 1, and Steven Silva had apparently already been drinking. He had stopped his car in an area that would normally have been quite busy on a weekday, but was probably fairly quiet on a Saturday afternoon. But he was seen slumped over the steering wheel of his Toyota Camry, while stopped at the Stony Point Office Park, at Stony Point Road and West 9th Street.
A report was called in, and units from the Santa Rosa Fire Department and Paramedics responded to the area. Upon arrival they found Silva as described, and when they contacted him, he appeared to be intoxicated. But when they addressed him, he woke up and exited the car.
Silva was parked in this area when he was reported to be passed out in his car.
Silva is listed as a transient in the Santa Rosa area, though records show that he once lived at an apartment in the Roseland area of southwest Santa Rosa. Available arrest records show that in 2009 his license had already been suspended for a past DUI, when he was arrested for hit-and-run while intoxicated. In February of 2011 he was again charged with a DUI and driving on a DUI-suspended license. He was charged with a parole violation and resisting arrest in August of that year, but was out on AB109 Post-Release Community Supervision in 2012.
Earlier this year, on January 18, he was once again charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license when he was arrested by Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies in Bodega Bay, out on Bodega Head, the marine preserve area across the bay from the town. He was charged with another probation violation as well.
So when he was roused outside the office park on Saturday, he may have had all his belongings with him in the car, but he definitely had his dog, a pit-bull terrier, to accompany him. When Silva got out of the car, according to Santa Rosa police, he took the dog and began to walk away while the paramedics and fire personnel were trying to check on his welfare. As Silva grew more uncooperative, they contacted Santa Rosa police for assistance.
Officers were soon there and asked Silva to sit down while they reviewed the incident, but he was not in any mood to go along with them either. They then tried to handcuff him to detain him for public intoxication, but the dog became aggressive, and went after the paramedics and fire personnel. An officer used pepper spray on the dog, who then backed off, but Silva continued to struggle with them, kicking and spitting on the officers while they managed to get him face down on the ground and cuff him. He continued kicking and spitting, and leg restraints were finally used to get him under control.
Silva was booked into Sonoma County jail on familiar charges of felony DUI, resisting arrest, and violating his probation. They dog was taken by Animal Control until a friend or family member could take care of it. Anyone with additional information about Silva or this incident is encouraged to call Sergeant Philip at 707-543-4016.
