Santa Rosa man arrested in connection with road rage attack, online harassment

A Santa Rosa man was arrested Friday on suspicion of an array of crimes related to a reported road rage incident in which he allegedly followed another driver off Highway 101, attacked them, then harassed them over social media, authorities said.

Armando Sanchez Martinez, 24, was taken into custody Friday morning at his home by CHP officers working with Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies, according to a CHP news release posted on social media.

On Aug. 7, after a lane change on the freeway, Martinez allegedly followed another driver onto the northbound Steele Lane exit. When both vehicles were stopped at a traffic light he got out of his vehicle and used a window punch and a folding knife to attack the other driver and vandalize their car, the news release said.

The victim used a cellphone to photograph Martinez, who threw the phone into the bushes before fleeing, the CHP said.

Following the incident — to which CHP officers responded at 9:45 a.m. — Martinez “later figured out who the victim was and started harassing him and making criminal threats over social media,” the news release said.

CHP investigators developed leads in the case using photos, identified Martinez as a suspect and obtained a search warrant for his Santa Rosa home. Further evidence tying him to the incident was located at his home, the news release said.

Martinez was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, damaging a digital device to prevent reporting a crime, witness intimidation, intentionally destroying evidence, criminal threats and brandishing a knife.

He was booked into Sonoma County Jail on $300,00 bail, the news release said.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 707-387-2960 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @jeremyhay