Serial bandit suspect captured in Rohnert Park

A man suspected of robbing six gas stations and an electronics store in Sonoma County in the past 13 days was arrested Friday evening in Rohnert Park.

Matthew Meehan, 25, was apprehended at about 6 p.m. during a felony traffic stop, said Rohnert Park Police Sgt. Art Sweeney.

Employees of the city’s public works department spotted Meehan and called 911, Sweeney said.

“Patrol converged on the area and initially didn’t spot him,” Sweeney said. “But then we got him in a big felony traffic stop.”

He did not say where the arrest occurred.

Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa police believe Meehan is responsible for a series of armed robberies, most recently a Chevron station robbery on Stony Point Road at about 2:30 a.m.Friday, said police Sgt. Lisa Banayat.

The preceding two robberies occurred Wednesday at a Shell station on Dutton Avenue and a Union 76 station on Farmers Lane, both in Santa Rosa.

In Rohnert Park, a gas station was robbed Aug. 19 and an electronics store on Aug. 23, and in Santa Rosa gas stations were robbed on Aug. 17 and 21.