Petaluma police said Wednesday they are investigating a pop-up COVID-19 testing site after learning it may have been operating illegally.
Petaluma police received multiple reports between Jan. 15 and Jan. 26 about the legitimacy of a pop-up testing site at 320 N. McDowell Blvd.
Officers responded to the testing site and determined that it had the proper documents and appeared to be operated by Crestview Clinical Laboratory.
However, Crestview later alerted Petaluma police that it was not operating a testing site in the city. When officers subsequently returned to the site, the pop-up had been removed.
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An investigation into the testing site is ongoing, according to Petaluma police. The department has also been contacted by people who were tested at the site and subsequently received results, so authorities haven't determined whether patients have been victimized.
Other jurisdictions in California, including San Francisco and Marin County, have also received reports of unauthorized or suspicious testing sites that processed test results via Crestview.
Petaluma police have yet to determine whether the pop-up site at 320 N. McDowell Blvd. is related to other testing sites that have drawn suspicion.
Local
Members of the public seeking a COVID testing location are encouraged to contact their primary care provider or visit Sonoma County's testing website at https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/testing-and-tracing/ for a list of testing sites.
People who believe they may have been scammed by the Petaluma pop-up site are encouraged to contact the Petaluma Police Department at (707) 778-4372.
