High-speed chase ends in arrest at gunpoint in downtown Healdsburg

A lengthy police chase from Santa Rosa into downtown Healdsburg during Wednesday’s lunch hour ended at the city’s new roundabout with an arrest at gunpoint of a suspect in a weekend shooting, police said.

Speeds during the chase reached 80-90 mph as the pursuit traveled through back roads into town. The stop came as the suspect, identified by police as 19-year-old Ethan William Blaser of Santa Rosa, slowed to navigate the roundabout - the newest addition to traffic control in the city’s busy tourist district.

That’s when a Santa Rosa canine officer used his patrol SUV to hit Blaser’s Honda CR-V, pushing it out of control to a stop, police said. Several law enforcement vehicles then flooded the roundabout and officers jumped out with guns drawn, pointed at the crunched car and two males inside - Blaser and the passenger, a 17-year-old Santa Rosa resident whose name has not been released because he is a minor.

Blaser was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide and reckless evading a peace officer, police said. He was in custody Wednesday night, being held on $1 million bail, according to the Sonoma County Jail website.

Police suspect Blaser was involved in Saturday night’s shooting of a 21-year-old man. The man was shot three times, including at least once in the face and in the stomach, from close range as he talked to two others along North Dutton Avenue near Trowbridge Street in Santa Rosa. He was hospitalized but is expected to survive.

The passenger was not arrested in connection with the weekend’s shooting, but he was booked into the Juvenile Justice Center because of outstanding warrants for his arrest.

The chase, which also involved the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter and about a dozen police vehicles, unfolded in front of Healdsburg businesses at the south end of downtown. Feet away, customers at the Parish Cafe sat outside, having lunch.

“We saw it all. They T-boned the car they were chasing,” said restaurant owner Karla Lippincott. “It’s crazy. Dine on our patio, we have all the action.”

While the chase ended in Healdsburg, it started closer to Santa Rosa.

Detectives investigating Saturday’s shooting were following up on leads Wednesday that led them to identify Blaser as a possible suspect. During their surveillance of Blaser, detectives attempted to stop his Honda CR-V. But Blaser refused to stop and sped off, leading officers on a pursuit just before 12:30 p.m.

Police dispatch reports mapped the speeding caravan as it traveled on rural roads from west Sonoma County into Healdsburg. Blaser led the way along Trenton and Eastside roads to Old Redwood Highway, where they all passed underneath Highway 101, and continued north on Healdsburg Avenue into the city.

Several people saw the intense scene at the intersection as a victory for the roundabout, which previously had garnered drawn-out criticism because of its two-year construction time, multimillion-dollar cost and losses to nearby businesses from construction.

But on Wednesday, the circular asphalt got some love.

“Roundabout for the win!” wrote one person on social media. “Let’s celebrate for the roundabout!” posted another.

Lippincott, too, gave it some credit.

“The roundabout probably is what helped them catch this guy,” she said.

Members of the Santa Rosa Police SWAT team later served search warrants in the 7800 block of Adrian Drive in Rohnert Park and the 500 block of Duncan Street in Santa Rosa, in connection with the shooting investigation.

Blaser is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 15.