A woman accused of stealing a car from a Safeway parking lot on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa led law enforcement on a harrowing, roughly 30-mile chase down Highway 101 yesterday, reaching speeds near 130 mph before deputies took her into custody near Highway 37 and Arnold Drive in southern Sonoma County. She remains held without bail at the Sonoma County Jail, and her name is being withheld because prosecutors have not yet filed charges.
According to The Press Democrat, law enforcement officers began chasing the car at about 5:30 PM after the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office aviation unit, Henry-1, spotted the reported stolen vehicle heading south on Highway 101 near downtown Santa Rosa. The helicopter tracked the car from above as California Highway Patrol units followed it along the freeway, with the driver weaving through heavy traffic and using the shoulder and center divide in an attempt to evade authorities.
A Carjacking Attempt Mid-Chase
At some point during the pursuit, the woman attempted to carjack another driver in a passing vehicle, per authorities cited by the outlet. Under California Penal Code Section 215, carjacking is a violent felony that carries a potential sentence of three, five, or nine years in state prison, according to Power Trial Lawyers, since a conviction requires proof that force or fear was used to take the vehicle from another person’s immediate presence.
The chase carried the car south through Santa Rosa and continued along Highway 101 into Novato, according to the same account, with the vehicle reportedly reaching nearly 130 mph at points along the route. The article notes the car then transitioned to eastbound Highway 37 at about 5:40 PM, a two-lane arterial that links Highway 101 in Novato with Highway 121 in Sonoma County, per the same account.
Caught Near Arnold Drive
Sonoma County Sheriff’s deputies took the woman into custody at about 5:45 PM near the intersection of Highway 37 and Arnold Drive, after she exited the car, the article states. She was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and evading police officers…