Two younger brothers of Sonoma County’s first Iraq war casualty are among five suspects arrested since a weekend brawl that left one man dead and three others wounded.
Matthew Timothy O’Day (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was in jail Monday on suspicion of murder, and Rory Joseph O’Day (above left), 18, of Santa Rosa was being held as a suspected accessory to murder.
The O’Days’ eldest brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O’Day (pictured above), died in Iraq when his tank plunged off a bridge into the Euphrates River on March 24, 2003, five days into the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He was the first Sonoma County casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
A fifth man, Donald Bittner (above right), 19, of Santa Rosa was arrested Monday and held on suspicion of murder.
Police found Benjamin Herbert Floriani dead on the living room floor when they arrived at the Blair Place town house. Three other men were wounded.
Efran Vasquez, 22, and Aniano Vasquez, 21, were hospitalized, Banayat said. Martin Ponzo, 20, was treated for his injuries and released.
It was the fourth homicide of the year in Santa Rosa, compared to six for all of 2006.
Below are the mug shots of some of the suspects arrested in the stabbing incident.
Matthew O’Day is pictured above left and Rory O’Day is pictured above right. Click on either image to view the full sized picture.
Alex Hopper is pictured to the left and Noah Minuskin is pictured to the right. Click on either image to view the full sized picture.
Above is a photo of Donald Bittner. Click on the image to view the full sized picture.


