Nov 2019

Just before 11:30 last night our 911 center received a call of a possible highway violence coming into the Santa Rosa area from the Mendocino County line. CHP officers began responding to the area and eventually located the vehicle traveling south on 101. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over as it entered Santa Rosa but it appeared that the driver had other ideas.

Once officers realized that the vehicle was not going to stop they broadcast the pursuit and requested more officers to help in the chase. As the fleeing vehicle approached the East Washington Street offramp in Petaluma a Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputy was able to deploy a spike strip which flattened two of the vehicles tires. Eventually the vehicle crossed into Marin County and officers from CHP – Marin were waiting to join in the pursuit. As the fleeing vehicle entered Novato, a Novato Police Department canine unit joined in just in case their services were needed.

With failing tires and a parade of law enforcement now following behind, the driver eventually decided it was pointless to try to drive any further. The vehicle pulled into the southbound CHP scales near Marinwood and came to a stop. Despite numerous commands from officers on scene the driver barricaded herself in the vehicle and refused to get out.

Once it was clear that the driver had no intention of getting out of the vehicle a plan was devised for officers to attempt to remove her. A non-lethal projectile was deployed at the rear passenger window of the vehicle shattering it out. The driver continued to ignore officers commands and took further steps to secure themselves in the vehicle. Officers utilized teargas in an attempt to get the driver to exit the vehicle however this also proves useless. Finally an arrest team approached the vehicle on foot and entered the vehicle through the shattered passenger window. The drivers door was unlocked and officers attempted to remove her. Still not wanting to obey officers commands to give up, she became combative and began fighting with officers. It was now clear that the time had come for Novato police department to deploy their fur missile. Once K9 Koa joined the struggle, the driver of the vehicle finally realized that it was time to give up and was taken into custody shortly there after.

After being medically cleared at a local hospital, the driver was eventually booked into Marin county jail on multiple charges including driving under the influence of drugs, evading, and resisting arrest.

We would like to thank all of the agencies involved in this incident for their help in removing this driver from the road. Teamwork plays such a huge role in law-enforcement and we are grateful to have such great partners in our area.