Community
Series of calls resolved with Crisis Intervention Techniques.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Monday, August 15th, 2022
Issued By:
Sergeant Paul Gilman, Petaluma PD, 707.778.4372, email: [email protected]
Incident: Series of calls successfully resolved with Crisis Intervention Techniques
Occurred Date: 8/15/2022
Location: Railroad Tracks near Payran/ Petaluma Valley Hospital/ Best Western
Involved Subjects(s): Todd Naus (38-year-old resident of Petaluma) and (Seana Boylan 36-year
old Santa Rosa resident). 3rd subject not identified as he was not arrested.
Incident Summary
On 8/15/2022 Petaluma Police received multiple calls from citizens regarding subjects in various states of crisis. During all 3 occasions, officers responded and de-escalated the incidents and in two of the incidents, safely apprehended the offenders and transported them to Sonoma County Jail without incident.
The first incident a caller reported a “woman calling for help” near Lucky’s on Payran. Officers arrived and there was no woman calling for help. The officers contacted the original reporting party who told officers that he did not hear a woman calling for help, but there was a man near the trestle bridge who was “waving a big knife.” Officers located Todd Naus near the trestle waving a machete. The first officer created distance and called for additional resources. The officer ordered Naus to drop the machete. Naus complied and dropped the machete near his feet. As other officers arrived on scene, Naus inexplicably picked up the machete and refused repeated commands to drop the weapon. Negotiations continued for several minutes, and officers negotiated with Naus and were able to get him to throw the machete a safe distance away. While keeping Naus away from the machete, officers developed a plan to safely arrest Naus with a combination of verbal commands and less than lethal options. Naus was ultimately taken safely into custody and arrested. He was transported to Sonoma County Jail.
Todd Naus has been arrested by Petaluma PD 58 times since 2003.
The second incident yesterday was a man who had entered Petaluma Valley Hospital. He was trying to force his way into the Emergency Room Lobby. After a call from hospital staff, Officers responded to the area as it was reported that he had made entry to the ER Lobby and he was blocking the door to the Emergency Room. By the time officers arrived on scene, he had exited the hospital and he was detained by officers. At the request of hospital staff, he was admonished about returning the hospital and he was escorted off the premises.
Although there was no arrest in this situation, this subject is familiar to Petaluma Police and he has 16 prior arrests dating back to 2003.
The third incident, 36-year-old Santa Rosa resident Seana Boylan was alleged to have unlawfully entered a hotel room at Best Western by climbing through a window. She asked hotel staff for an extra key, but she was told she wouldn’t be allowed a replacement key since the room was not registered to her. The hotel staff told PPD Dispatchers that the woman had climbed through a window, and she engaged the interior lock of the door and was refusing to allow staff to enter the room. Hotel staff requested that the police officers forcibly remove her from the room. Officers elected to negotiate with the occupant. She emerged from the room after approximately 10 minutes of negotiations. She has a felony warrant for her arrest. She was taken into custody after it was determined that she had a felony warrant for her arrest.
These three incidents, which all occurred during Dayshift on Monday, exemplify the importance placed on training and the expectations we have of our officers. The importance of de-escalation, verbal warnings, evaluating all reasonable alternatives and the use of force continuum. All three incidents resolved when proper de-escalation tactics, proper patrol tactics, creating time and distance and ultimately the cooperation of the suspect allowed the peaceful resolution of these three calls for service. Those 3 calls were just 3 of more than 175 call for service answered by the Police Department on Monday.
For more information about Petaluma fully implementing the “8 Can’t Wait” recommendations drawn from President Obama’s 2015 Police Use of Force Project and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, please follow this link: https://cityofpetaluma.org/we-follow-all-california-use-of-force-laws/.
Series of calls resolved with Crisis Intervention Techniques. 
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PRESS RELEASEFor Immediate Release Monday, August 15th, 2022
Issued By:
Sergeant Paul Gilman, Petaluma PD, 707.778.4372, email: [email protected]
Incident: Series of calls successfully resolved with Crisis Intervention Techniques
Occurred Date: 8/15/2022
Location: Railroad Tracks near Payran/ Petaluma Valley Hospital/ Best Western
Involved Subjects(s): Todd Naus (38-year-old resident of Petaluma) and (Seana Boylan 36-year
old Santa Rosa resident). 3rd subject not identified as he was not arrested.
Incident Summary
On 8/15/2022 Petaluma Police received multiple calls from citizens regarding subjects in various states of crisis. During all 3 occasions, officers responded and de-escalated the incidents and in two of the incidents, safely apprehended the offenders and transported them to Sonoma County Jail without incident.
The first incident a caller reported a “woman calling for help” near Lucky’s on Payran. Officers arrived and there was no woman calling for help. The officers contacted the original reporting party who told officers that he did not hear a woman calling for help, but there was a man near the trestle bridge who was “waving a big knife.” Officers located Todd Naus near the trestle waving a machete. The first officer created distance and called for additional resources. The officer ordered Naus to drop the machete. Naus complied and dropped the machete near his feet. As other officers arrived on scene, Naus inexplicably picked up the machete and refused repeated commands to drop the weapon. Negotiations continued for several minutes, and officers negotiated with Naus and were able to get him to throw the machete a safe distance away. While keeping Naus away from the machete, officers developed a plan to safely arrest Naus with a combination of verbal commands and less than lethal options. Naus was ultimately taken safely into custody and arrested. He was transported to Sonoma County Jail.
Todd Naus has been arrested by Petaluma PD 58 times since 2003.
The second incident yesterday was a man who had entered Petaluma Valley Hospital. He was trying to force his way into the Emergency Room Lobby. After a call from hospital staff, Officers responded to the area as it was reported that he had made entry to the ER Lobby and he was blocking the door to the Emergency Room. By the time officers arrived on scene, he had exited the hospital and he was detained by officers. At the request of hospital staff, he was admonished about returning the hospital and he was escorted off the premises.
Although there was no arrest in this situation, this subject is familiar to Petaluma Police and he has 16 prior arrests dating back to 2003.
The third incident, 36-year-old Santa Rosa resident Seana Boylan was alleged to have unlawfully entered a hotel room at Best Western by climbing through a window. She asked hotel staff for an extra key, but she was told she wouldn’t be allowed a replacement key since the room was not registered to her. The hotel staff told PPD Dispatchers that the woman had climbed through a window, and she engaged the interior lock of the door and was refusing to allow staff to enter the room. Hotel staff requested that the police officers forcibly remove her from the room. Officers elected to negotiate with the occupant. She emerged from the room after approximately 10 minutes of negotiations. She has a felony warrant for her arrest. She was taken into custody after it was determined that she had a felony warrant for her arrest.
These three incidents, which all occurred during Dayshift on Monday, exemplify the importance placed on training and the expectations we have of our officers. The importance of de-escalation, verbal warnings, evaluating all reasonable alternatives and the use of force continuum. All three incidents resolved when proper de-escalation tactics, proper patrol tactics, creating time and distance and ultimately the cooperation of the suspect allowed the peaceful resolution of these three calls for service. Those 3 calls were just 3 of more than 175 call for service answered by the Police Department on Monday.
For more information about Petaluma fully implementing the “8 Can’t Wait” recommendations drawn from President Obama’s 2015 Police Use of Force Project and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, please follow this link: https://cityofpetaluma.org/we-follow-all-california-use-of-force-laws/.
Address/Location
Petaluma Police Department
969 Petaluma Blvd N
Petaluma, CA 94952
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 707-778-4372