Fences border the entrance to the Joe Rodota Trail at Dutton Plaza along Dutton Avenue as a cyclist makes his way east along the trail in Roseland, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (Chad Surmick / The Press Democrat)
A Santa Rosa man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for opening fire during a 2024 confrontation at a west Santa Rosa shopping center.
Steven Carter Strawn, 43, was sentenced Wednesday morning, March 4, by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Lynnette Brown after a jury convicted him Nov. 10, 2025, of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with an assault weapon, possession of an assault weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
Strawn previously had three prior convictions under California’s Three Strikes Law, prosecutors said in a news release.
Under California’s Three Strikes law, a defendant with at least two prior serious or violent felony convictions can face a sentence of 25 years to life in prison upon a new felony conviction.
The latest charges stem from a Sept. 28, 2024 incident at Dutton Plaza near Dutton Avenue and Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa. Police previously said Strawn and another Santa Rosa man, Jared Ambrose, 45, were arrested after shots were fired following a parking lot altercation.
According to prosecutors, Strawn arrived at the shopping center that evening and began harassing patrons and people on the nearby Joe Rodota Trail. When one of two victims confronted him and asked him to leave, Strawn got into the passenger seat of a friend’s Pontiac and fired multiple rounds from an illegal assault rifle as the vehicle drove away.
No victims were struck. Authorities said the rifle jammed after several rounds were fired.
A Santa Rosa Police Department officer in the area heard the gunfire and responded within minutes, locating Strawn in a nearby parking lot as he attempted to clear the jammed weapon from the open trunk of the vehicle, prosecutors said.
During the trial, Strawn testified and claimed an unidentified third person was responsible for the shooting. Jurors rejected that account and found him guilty on all charges.
The second suspect, Ambrose, was sentenced Nov. 17, 2025, to four years and eight months in prison after he was convicted of assault with a machine gun or assault weapon and possession of an assault weapon, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.
Originally published at Isabel Beer