{ "id": "2024-04-18-sonoma-state-university-stalking", "slug": "sonoma-state-university-stalking-2024-04-18", "institution": { "name": "Sonoma State University", "shortName": "SSU", "state": "CA", "type": "public-masters", "alertSystemName": "Sonoma State Timely Warning", "enrollment": 6000 }, "incident": { "date": "2024-04-18", "type": "stalking", "cleryCategory": "timely-warning", "headline": "Man following women near the soccer field arrested for stalking", "headlinePublic": "Man following women near the soccer field arrested for stalking", "summary": "On April 18, 2024, at approximately 2:45 p.m. PDT, Sonoma State University police responded to the area of the soccer field for a [male subject following women and making them feel uncomfortable](https://www.sonoma.edu/updates/2024/timely-warning-crime-bulletin). Officers arrested the man (a 37-year-old not affiliated with the campus) for stalking and booked him into the Sonoma County Jail. The university issued a [Timely Warning Crime Bulletin](https://police.sonoma.edu/public/timely-warnings-and-bulletins) under the Clery Act and asked for help identifying additional victims or witnesses.", "outcome": "The subject was arrested for stalking and booked into the Sonoma County Jail. The university's police department sought community assistance to identify any additional victims or witnesses.", "resolution": "confirmed-threat" }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestampApprox": "April 18, 2024, after the 2:45 PM PDT response and arrest, issued the same day", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "Nader Oweis, Chief of Police, provides the campus community with a Timely Warning Bulletin regarding an incident of stalking that occurred on campus on April 18, 2024, at approximately 2:45 p.m.\n\nThis Timely Warning Bulletin is being issued in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Act, and the purpose is to provide preventative information to the campus community to aid members from becoming the victim of a similar crime.\n\nOn April 18, 2024, at approximately 2:45 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of the soccer field regarding a male subject who was following women and making them feel uncomfortable. Upon arrival, officers located the subject, and based on victim and witness statements subsequently arrested the subject for stalking. He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail.\n\nThe subject, who is not affiliated with the campus, is a Hispanic male, 37 years old, with short dark hair, approximately 5'10\" tall, and weighing 180 pounds.\n\nThe Sonoma State University Police Department is seeking community assistance in determining if there are any additional victims or witnesses to this incident.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://www.sonoma.edu/updates/2024/timely-warning-crime-bulletin", "sourceDescription": "Sonoma State University official Timely Warning Crime Bulletin page, verbatim text confirmed from the official sonoma.edu archive including opening attribution to Chief Nader Oweis and full Clery clause", "annotations": [ "The bulletin is authored by Chief of Police Nader Oweis and published on the official SSU campus updates page, the formal opening attributing the bulletin to the chief by name is standard SSU timely-warning format.", "The Clery clause wording is the full formal version: 'the purpose is to provide preventative information to the campus community to aid members from becoming the victim of a similar crime', more specific than the common abbreviated form.", "Notably, the warning was issued after the suspect was already arrested. Sonoma State used the bulletin to surface additional victims and witnesses rather than to warn of a still-at-large threat." ], "characterCount": 1109 } ], "context": "Stalking is one of the most common Clery Act crimes on campuses yet one of the least frequently captured in alert archives. Sonoma State University, a public master's-granting institution in Rohnert Park, California, issued a [Timely Warning Crime Bulletin](https://www.sonoma.edu/updates/2024/timely-warning-crime-bulletin) after an April 18, 2024 incident in which officers responded around 2:45 p.m. PDT to the area of the soccer field for a man following women and making them feel uncomfortable. Officers arrested the subject (a 37-year-old Hispanic male not affiliated with the campus, described as roughly 5'10\" and 180 pounds with short dark hair) for stalking and booked him into the [Sonoma County Jail](https://police.sonoma.edu/public/timely-warnings-and-bulletins). The bulletin, issued under the Jeanne Clery Act, asked the community to help identify any additional victims or witnesses. The case is instructive for two reasons: it documents the relatively rare stalking timely warning, and it shows a warning issued after an arrest, used as a prevention-and-outreach tool rather than a notice of a continuing at-large threat.", "keyFindings": [ "Officers responded to the soccer-field area at approximately 2:45 p.m. PDT on April 18, 2024, for a man following women", "The subject, a 37-year-old not affiliated with campus, was arrested for stalking and booked into the Sonoma County Jail", "The bulletin included a detailed suspect description: Hispanic male, short dark hair, about 5'10\" and 180 pounds", "The Clery timely warning was issued after the arrest to surface additional victims and witnesses, not to warn of an at-large suspect", "Stalking is a common but under-archived Clery crime; this case fills that incident-type gap" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Timely Warning Crime Bulletin - Sonoma State University", "url": "https://www.sonoma.edu/updates/2024/timely-warning-crime-bulletin", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Timely Warnings and Bulletins - Sonoma State University Police Department", "url": "https://police.sonoma.edu/public/timely-warnings-and-bulletins", "type": "official-archive" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "stalking", "timely-warning", "california", "clery-act", "arrest", "public-masters" ], "dateAdded": "2026-05-28", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16", "addedBy": "ingestion" }