A registered sex offender was arrested after allegedly trapping residents inside a Santa Rosa home during a terrifying break-in.
Edward Carver, 36, was taken into custody Friday night after Santa Rosa police said he forced his way into a residence on the 2700 block of Mohawk Street shortly before 11 p.m. The suspect allegedly kept residents from escaping by repeatedly closing the front door, according to cops. One resident managed to pin Carver against a wall, but he escaped before officers arrived.
Earlier that night, police received a report of a man peering into a residence window and making sexual remarks to a resident in the same neighborhood. The two incidents prompted a search involving multiple officers.
Carver was allegedly found hiding in bushes on Yuma Street and arrested. The Santa Rosa Police Department said it was disclosing Carver’s status as a registered sex offender because of the nature of the new allegations and to protect the community.
He was booked into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on $250,000 bail on allegations including burglary, false imprisonment and peeking while loitering, along with other allegations. Carver was also being held on a parole violation stemming from his prior conviction, police said.
The case has drawn attention to the challenges of monitoring registered sex offenders in California communities. Carver’s alleged actions spanned multiple locations within the same Santa Rosa neighborhood during a single evening, escalating from window-peeping to an alleged home invasion with residents trapped inside.
In the viral moment that preceded the break-in, a man matching Carver’s description was reported looking into a home and making unwanted sexual comments to someone inside. That report came from the same neighborhood where the later home invasion occurred, suggesting a pattern of escalating behavior over the course of the evening.
The Santa Rosa Police Department has not released additional details about the number of residents inside the home or whether anyone was injured during the confrontation. The department’s decision to publicly identify Carver as a registered sex offender reflects the seriousness of the allegations and the perceived threat to community safety.
He is scheduled to appear in court Monday at 1:30 p.m.