Police: Man breaks into Petaluma fire station, confronts firefighters

Petaluma Fire Department Firefighter-Paramedic Steven Clegg was wrapping up some reports at the city’s downtown fire station when a man allegedly smashed through the facility’s glass front door and aggressively confronted the firefighters inside, an episode that ultimately ended in the man’s arrest, according to fire department personnel.|

Petaluma Fire Department Firefighter-Paramedic Steven Clegg was wrapping up some reports at the city’s downtown fire station on Sunday when a man allegedly smashed through the facility’s glass front door and aggressively confronted the firefighters inside, an episode that ultimately ended in the man’s arrest, according to petaluma fire and law enforcement personnel.

Clegg, who was acting captain at the time, stepped out of a downstairs office to investigate the crash of glass around 10:45 p.m., according to the fire department and Petaluma Police Department Lt. Ken Savano. Clegg discovered a hockey puck-like object had apparently broken through the glass door, Savano said, and returned inside to inform police of the incident.

The firefighter did not notice that the suspect, 27-year-old Armando Arenas-Altamirano, had allegedly entered the building behind him, Savano said.

Arenas-Altamirano made his way to the building’s break room, where he began attempting to barricade the doors with furniture, Savano said. Clegg warned firefighters in a second-floor sleeping area and called police.

The suspect allegedly confronted Clegg and the firefighters who came downstairs amid the commotion, throwing chairs at personnel, causing damage to the room and attempting to escape through a nearby window, Savano said.

The man ultimately fled through the front door, and crashed through more glass on the way out, said Petaluma Battalion Chief Jeff Holden.

“When the guy ran outside, he tripped crossing the street, and the guys held him there until police came,” Holden said.

Holden said the event was unsettling for personnel, but that no staff were hurt. The level of damage to the building is still being determined, he said.

Police arrested Arenas-Altamirano, a Petaluma resident, at 10:58 p.m. that night on charges of felony vandalism, use or being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and violation of probation.

Savano said police had already been on the lookout for Arenas-Altamirano after his father told them his son had fled the house, allegedly high on methamphetamine. The drug is known to induce a sense of extreme paranoia, he noted.

Arenas-Altamirano was held at the Sonoma County main jail Tuesday afternoon on $5,000 bail for the recent arrest, according to inmate records. Records from the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office also showed the man to have several prior convictions spanning back to 2014, including a burglary conviction from March of this year.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports)

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