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Report Of Shooting In Santa Rosa Leads To 7 Arrested On Drug Charges

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A report about a shooting led to the arrests of seven people on drug charges at a west Santa Rosa residence late Monday morning.

Police received a call around 11 a.m. about a shooting in the area of Finley and Fresno avenues, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Rich Celli said.

The caller said that as he fled a confrontation in a residence in the 3700 block of Finley Avenue he heard gunshots and believed someone was shot, Celli said.

When police met the caller, identified as Isidro Bello-Rosales, near the residence, he said he was helping process marijuana with others in the home and got into a dispute with someone about payment, Celli said.  Rosales was arrested when police found him allegedly in possession of a small quantity of methamphetamine, according to Celli.

Police went to the Finley Avenue residence and found no evidence of a robbery or assault, but located four men on the floor near open boxes containing 1-pound bags of marijuana.

Police heard other people in another bedroom, but they fled out the back of the residence, Celli said. Officers who were on the perimeter of the residence saw two men on a property west of the Finley Avenue house and detained them, Celli said.

Officers found 30 marijuana plants growing in the yard of the Finley Avenue home. Officers obtained a search warrant and found six additional marijuana plants, 230 pounds of processed marijuana, $14,000 in cash and 12 firearms, including one AK-47 assault rifle and SKS rifle outside the bedroom where the two men fled, according to Celli.

Detectives interviewed other people on the property and learned several people were being paid by the hour to trim marijuana, Celli said. The majority of the marijuana was brought to the residence and was not grown on site, and there were no medical claims related to the marijuana, Celli said.

Police arrested Claudio Jimenez-Avendano, Erik Almonte-Mondragon, Sergio Sanchez-Sarmento and Adelfo Avendano Lopez on suspicion of cultivating, harvesting and processing marijuana.

Martin Sarmiento Morales and Isidro Bello-Rosales were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession of an opium pipe. All six suspects were booked in the Sonoma County Jail.

A male juvenile was also found at the scene and arrested and booked into Juvenile Hall for cultivating, harvesting and processing marijuana.

© Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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