Man surrenders to Santa Rosa police after holding hostages, punching dog, stabbing TV

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A 25-year-old man surrendered to Santa Rosa police after they said he held four people hostage – including a 5-year-old – and also terrorized the group by stabbing a television with a large knife, punched a dog in the head and threatened to hurt the child, authorities said.

But police said they were able to deescalate the situation on Thursday morning and bring Jarrett Cole of El Dorado County into custody. He was booked into Sonoma County Jail on felony charges of false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty, vandalism and kidnapping.

Efforts to immediately reach Cole or determine whether he had an attorney were not immediately successful.

In a news release, Santa Rosa police officers said they were called out just before 1:30 a.m. to the 500 block of Apple Creek Lane. Someone had called 911 from Sacramento to say that Cole had a large knife and was holding several people hostage inside. The Sacramento caller was on an open phone line with people in the house. 

An acquaintance had brought Cole to the house, police said.

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When police arrived, they learned that Cole was threatening to burn down the apartment and would kill everyone inside. Cole was calling himself "God" and wouldn't let anyone move inside the house, let alone make phone calls, police said.  There were four people total being held, police said, including the child, who was in a rear room.

Police ended up surrounding the apartment, which is when a woman came outside and threw a knife, which she had wrested from Cole, onto the lawn, police said.

Cole came outside on the landing and then threatened to "kill every officer on scene," police said in the statement.

 Cole appeared to be under the influence of drugs but did not have any weapons in his hands at the time.  

Officers kept a short distance from Cole and negotiated with him for about 15 minutes to deescalate the situation until he surrendered, police said. Police did strike him once with a less-lethal foam round to his upper body as they took him into custody. 

Police said Cole continued to resist them while he was being placed on a gurney and taken to a hospital for minor injuries. Police said he had a small amount of methamphetamine on him. 

The hostage situation lasted about two hours.