An arrest was made in last year’s Santa Rosa Taco Bell shooting after a resident complained about the suspect smoking marijuana on a porch in Brisbane, a probation report shows.
Brad Adams, 29, was arrested May 5, 2022, after the resident advised homeowners were out of town and people were on their porch, according to a probation report filed in Sonoma County Superior Court.
The report was released Friday, two days after Adams was sentenced to 11 years to life in prison for the shooting that injured a victim’s wrist.
Investigators previously said Adams was arrested at a relative’s Brisbane home following the May 4, 2022 shooting at the Taco Bell on Mendocino Avenue.
He was booked into the San Mateo County Jail where Santa Rosa police investigators tried to interview a defiant suspect.
According to the probation report, “The defendant proceeded to ‘burp and fart’ several times in the presence of the detectives, who believed he was doing it to be rude.”
Adams was transported to the Sonoma County jail in Santa Rosa and investigators searched his cell phone. They found photos and videos showing him with the gun used in the shooting.
He was convicted Aug. 15 after pleading no contest to attempted murder and shooting at an occupied building. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed seven other counts against him in the case.
Around 12:30 a.m. May 4, Adams and two of his friends were in Adams’ Ford F-150 in the drive-thru of the Taco Bell on Mendocino Avenue. Their loud laughing and joking caught the attention of the victim, who was behind them in the lane.
Believing Adams was looking at him in the rearview mirror, the victim asked Adams if he had an issue with him, according to court records.
Adams got out of his pickup and pointed the gun at the victim, who had a knife in his pocket, according to a defense motion for dismissal.
The two had agreed to fight each other and Adams got out of the pickup and told one of the passengers in the truck to park in the nearby Mendocino Marketplace parking lot.
According to the probation report, the victim told investigators he planned to leave after getting his food.
Records show Adam hid behind a retaining wall across from the drive-thru and waited for the victim to get his food before firing two rounds.
The victim’s left wrist was hit and he called authorities before being treated at a hospital.
Investigators found Adams’ abandoned pickup in the Mendocino Marketplace parking lot. Inside were the handgun, ammunition, ecstasy and cocaine, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Police interviewed the two friends who were in the pickup and Adams was arrested the day after the shooting.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.
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