Crime & Safety

Police: Wild Car Chase Started With Attempted Bank Fraud In San Anselmo

Central Marin Police are still searching for a second suspect from Wednesday evening's incident.

Central Marin Police are still searching for one of the two subjects in an attempted bank fraud scheme that started in San Anselmo and ended with a crash into a school bus near Mill Valley on Wednesday.

Two men, both described as black male adults entered a Bank of America in downtown San Anselmo and attempted to cash a fraudulent check. When the process seemed to be taking too long, the two men fled on foot, according to Central Marin Police. One suspect evaded police on foot.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing another suspect – with dreadlocks, a witness told Patch – running from police, dropping items along the way and jumping into a white Land Rover. "The police officer went up to the driver's side door and the driver fled, driving onto the sidewalk and swerving around another San Anselmo police car and fled down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard towards Highway 101," according to Theresa Lohr.

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Central Marin Police pursued the suspect onto Highway 101 southbound until they lost sight of the Land Rover and called off the pursuit. A few moments later, the Land Rover collided with an empty school bus near the East Blithedale exit in Mill Valley.

"The crash was not the result of police pursuing the subject," according to a statement from the Central Marin Police. "The officers who were pursuing the subject lost sight of the vehicle and were in the process of shutting down the pursuit, as per protocol, when the crash happened."

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Police arrested the suspect, who suffered a dislocated hip in the accident. He is currently free on $50,000 bail. His name was not immediately available.

A search of the Land Rover revealed stolen property, including a handicap placard reported stolen out of Oakland.


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