Four arrests in apparent pot deal gone bad

An illicit marijuana sale ended Tuesday night with a pair of New Yorkers in Sonoma County jail after their rental car was hit by gunfire and plowed into a ditch, leaving the two buyers as well as two sellers busted after one of the men was bitten by a police dog, authorities said.

The two New York residents — Welington Polanco, 22, of the Bronx, and Carlos Penzo, 32, of Yonkers — flew into the Bay Area on Saturday and were visiting Sonoma County to buy 14 pounds of marijuana, more than 200 times the legal limit, said Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. The suspects allegedly arranged to make the deal on the 500 block of Todd Road in Santa Rosa around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Deputies received conflicting reports of what transpired during the transaction at a Todd Road property, Crum said, but Polanco and Penzo sped away from the scene in a silver Infiniti they had rented. Three shots were fired from the property and at least one struck the Infiniti, which crashed into a ditch.

The New Yorkers allegedly abandoned the vehicle, leaving behind the marijuana and an undisclosed amount of money. They were later captured by deputies.

A resident of the Todd Road property, Gerardo Valencia, 50, and Noah Zayas, 23, also from the Bronx, were located at the scene and arrested. Zayas, hiding in a rear house, was bitten by a police dog on an undisclosed part of his body when he refused to surrender, Crum said.

Zayas was booked into jail on suspicion of transportation of marijuana for sale, conspiracy and resisting arrest. Valencia, Polanco and Penzo were each booked on counts of transportation of marijuana for sale and conspiracy.

All four men are being held on $30,000 bail.

Detectives haven’t determined who fired the shots and an investigation into the botched drug deal is ongoing, Crum said. People with information about the incident can call investigators at 707565-2185.