Driver says Sonoma deputy (Gelhaus) pulled gun on him

(10-31) 15:45 PDT SANTA ROSA -- The Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy after mistaking his toy AK-47 for a real rifle pulled a gun on a motorist twice during a traffic stop on Highway 101 two months earlier, the driver said Thursday.

Jeff Westbrook of Santa Rosa said he was mistreated by Deputy Erick Gelhaus after being pulled over Aug. 21 in Cotati for failing to signal a lane change in his BMW. The interaction troubled Westbrook so much that he recalled asking Gelhaus at one point, "Sir, is there something wrong with you?"

"I felt like I was watching somebody I needed to help," said Westbrook, 57, a program manager at an information technology company. "This was not right. He did not manage this correctly."

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There wasn't much room on the side of the highway, Westbrook said, so he rolled down his window and offered to move the car. That's when Gelhaus pulled a gun on him and yelled at him to turn the car off, Westbrook said. He said he responded that the car was already off.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Driver-says-Sonoma-deputy-pulled-gun-on-him-4944495.php


'roid rage?