A suspect in a robbery at a Macy’s department store in Marin County was arrested Monday after allegedly carjacking a vehicle and triggering a police chase in multiple counties, authorities said.
At about 3:25 pm Monday, officers were alerted to a robbery involving three suspects at a Macy’s in Corte Madera.
One suspect reportedly punched a security guard in the face and threatened that he had a gun. That suspect then got into a vehicle and fled, the Central Marin Police Authority said in a statement.
Police said officers saw a vehicle matching the fleeing suspect’s description on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur. The officer attempted to pull it over, but the suspect sped away and a pursuit ensued. However, the chase was halted for public safety reasons.
Meanwhile, Macy’s loss prevention personnel were already in custody of the other two suspects. The suspects, identified as Dorothy McGriff, 30, and Alair Woodcock, 34, were arrested by Central Marin police and booked into the Marin County Jail for suspected commercial burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime. Police said McGriff was also detained on suspicion of possession of narcotics and an outstanding warrant out of Santa Clara County.
After the chase was terminated in Larkspur, officers were dispatched to a welfare check of an individual in the area of Forbes Avenue near San Anselmo. Police said the person matched the description of the outstanding robbery suspect, and he was asking residents for a change of clothes and an Uber ride.
With help from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, police officers found the suspect and attempted to detain him. However, the suspect still resisted arrest and fled on foot into a nearby residence in San Rafael. A sheriff’s deputy gave chase, but the suspect went into a neighboring yard, police said.
Central Marin police then received a call from a resident on Island Drive in San Anselmo that their house was broken into and their vehicle was stolen when they were away from the residence. Shortly thereafter, another deputy saw the stolen vehicle traveling in Fairfax, authorities said.
That deputy attempted to stop the stolen vehicle, but the vehicle sped away, and a pursuit again began. Police said the deputy pursued the vehicle into San Rafael, with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter monitoring the chase from the air.
When the chasing deputy was involved in a vehicle collision, the pursuit ended. And the vehicle was followed by the sheriff’s helicopter into downtown San Rafael, where the suspect abandoned it and allegedly carjacked a passing motorist by alleging that he had a knife.
The suspect tried to flee by getting onto Interstate Highway 580, but police said the Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter and California Highway Patrol were able to track the suspect into Richmond, where officers assisted with the chase.
Eventually, the suspect abandoned the vehicle in San Pablo, where he was arrested by Richmond police. Central Marin officers then took custody of the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Richard Contreras, and booked him into Marin County Jail for suspected robbery, residential burglary, stealing a vehicle, carjacking, being a repeat felony offender, resisting arrest, evading a police officer and evading a police officer with disregard for safety.
Much respect to all law enforcement in catching this POS.