MARIN COUNTY (BCN) — The Marin County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Vallejo man Wednesday
afternoon on suspicion of evading police, hit-and-run, gun and drug charges
after a vehicle pursuit from U.S. Highway 101 into downtown Novato, a
sheriff’s lieutenant said.
When a sheriff’s deputy tried to stop a blue SUV that was speeding
and passing cars on the shoulder of northbound Highway 101 around 12:30 p.m.,
the driver exited at Rowland Boulevard, Lt. Doug Pittman said.
The deputy followed the SUV at a safe distance and saw it
sideswipe a Golden Gate Transit bus and another vehicle, but no one was
injured, Pittman said.
The driver fled his still moving vehicle, which then struck a
wrought iron fence on Vallejo Drive at 4th Street, Pittman said. The driver
ran between homes and hopped a fence before the deputy lost sight of him,
Pittman said. A loaded handgun and half-pound of marijuana were found in the
vehicle, Pittman said.
Novato police and the California Highway Patrol arrived with
police dogs and searched a 3- to 4-block area. Deputies learned the car was
registered to an apartment resident on 5th Street, and witnesses said the
suspect was inside that apartment, Pittman said.
Deputies called the suspect’s cell phone, and a male answered and
said he was not involved in the police activity and hung up, Pittman said.
When the suspect then tried to flee through common back yards of
the apartment complex, he was taken into custody, Pittman said.
The suspect was identified as Derrick Dwain Clark, 27, of Vallejo.
He was arrested on suspicion of evading police, hit-and-run, possession of a
loaded handgun, having a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana,
Pittman said.
It’s believed Clark either lived in the apartment before or was
related or acquainted with the resident, Pittman said.
During an interview with the sheriff’s deputies, Clark said he was
unaware he had struck the vehicles and apologized for the damage, Pittman
said.