Petaluma police arrest attempted robbery suspect

A man suspected of attempting to rob a woman at knifepoint in downtown Petaluma was arrested Thursday evening, police said.|

A man suspected of attempting to rob a woman at knifepoint in downtown Petaluma was arrested Thursday evening, police said.

About 9:30 p.m., a woman was walking in the area of Second and C streets when a man approached her from behind and grabbed a bag she was carrying on her shoulder, the Petaluma Police Department said in a news release.

After the woman yelled, the man brandished a small knife and pressed it against her leg as he told her to “be quiet,” police said. After noticing that the woman was talking on her cell phone, the man walked away, leaving the woman uninjured.

A canine officer searching the downtown area later located a man who matched the suspect description and was carrying a small folding knife, according to police. The man, later identified as 30-year-old Petaluma resident Jose Luis Nazario-Ramos, was placed under citizen’s arrest after the woman said she recognized him as the attempted robbery suspect, police said.

The citizen’s arrest was accepted by police, who determined that Nazario-Ramos was on probation for an unrelated offence. He was booked into Sonoma County Jail for attempted robbery and is being held on no bail because of the violation of probation, police said.

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