Just before 8pm on Thursday, Oct. 5, Healdsburg Police Dispatch received a call about a possible attempted kidnapping of two 12-year-olds at Giorgi Park.
Officers were dispatched and arrived within three minutes. Upon their arrival the officers were met by adult family members of the 12-year-olds, who had also arrived on scene.
The juveniles said they had been approached by a young man in a white t-shirt and jeans who appeared to have been drinking. He tried to lure them into his truck but they refused, which prompted another juvenile at the park to call police.
The family members pointed out a nearby 2003 gold Chevy Tahoe with a young man inside, still stopped on University Street near the Grant Avenue intersection. When officers approached the vehicle to order the driver to step outside, the man fled southbound on University Street at a high rate of speed.
In so doing his truck hit one of the family members, a 41-year-old female, who was taken to the hospital for her injuries.
Officers pursued the suspect until he collided into the occupied residence at 444 Mason St., where University Street makes a 90-degree turn to the east. The house had also been struck by a speeding vehicle in November of last year.
The impact left the badly damaged pickup unable to drive, and the suspect fled on foot. “After the crash, additional units were requested, and officers from the California Highway Patrol and deputies from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to assist,” said Healdsburg Police Chief Matt Jenkins.
The CHP also sent their helicopter unit to assist; however, the suspect was located and captured prior to its arrival, in the vacant lot at the southeast corner of Mason and Fitch streets.
The suspect, since identified as 24-year-old Luis Joel Flores Gaspar from Windsor, was taken to a local hospital pending medical clearance, prior to being booked at Sonoma County Jail. Gaspar was then booked on eight felony charges with enhancements including attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, driving while intoxicated, hit and run and evasion, and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a peace officer.
He remains in custody with $1 million bail. His first court appearance was Oct. 10, with Superior Court Judge Troye Kendall Shaffer presiding.
The family member who was struck by Gaspar’s vehicle received treatment at a local hospital for a fractured elbow. No one inside the residence at 444 Mason St. at the time of the collision was injured. The structure sustained considerable damage and is now uninhabitable.
What a tragic story. I hope the woman with the fractured elbow recovers. And those poor people at 444 Mason Street who lost their home. University Street points at that house like a dagger.
All of this happened just a few blocks from our home.
A three minute response time by HPD is very good and to be commended. They did their best. At least the children weren’t hurt.