California Sheriff Recruits Truck Driver to Help Stop High-Speed Chase
With two suspected armed robbers barreling down Highway 101 into Sonoma County as the afternoon commute got underway, a hastily assembled law enforcement group had few options and little time. They came up with an unusual plan: create a roadblock with traffic in southern Healdsburg.
Windsor Sgt. Andy Cash flagged down a tractor-trailer driver, recruiting him to angle his big rig across the highway. Dozens of vehicles began stacking up.
The approaching silver Chevrolet Malibu, suspected of carrying two men from a June 6 afternoon Willits marijuana robbery, had been going as fast as 120 mph with Ukiah police and CHP officers in pursuit.
With the logjam in sight the suspects slowed. The driver clipped a Volkswagen Beetle at 45 mph and ran into a guardrail, Cash said. The occupants of the Volkswagen weren’t injured.
Although preliminary reports June 6 said only one suspect ran from the wrecked car, police said both dashed from it, leaving behind bags and suitcases of money and marijuana. Officers soon found them hiding in neighborhoods along the highway and arrested them.
“We wanted to reduce traffic down to a choke point to get in and control the situation,” said Cash, who suggested the plan. “I think it worked near perfect.”
The plan carried risks but so did letting the armed pair continue down the highway during commute time at high speeds, or having them speed along county back roads, said Windsor Police Chief Carlos Basurto.
“I thought it was great thinking out of the box on his (Cash’s) part,” Basurto said. “Traffic was slowed enough, it slowed traffic even more and it slowed the bad guys enough that they stopped. Thankfully no one was hurt.”
Sonoma County law enforcement had been called to help on the southbound pursuit of armed men at 4:23 p.m., eventually bringing as many as 30 sheriff’s deputies, Windsor and Healdsburg police and CHP officers to the call.
Hearing the chase unfold on their radios, passing through Cloverdale at speeds of about 120 mph, time was limited, Cash said.
Standard options to stop a car, including throwing out a spike strip or tapping the car with a patrol vehicle to spin it out of control weren’t realistic at such speeds, said Cash. Blockades are an option, though rarely used, and not typically with civilians.
Officers just up the highway in central Healdsburg were preparing to toss out a spike strip but ran out of time as the silver car blew by, said CHP Officer Jon Sloat.
“This was a rare and extreme need to intervene for public safety,” Cash said. If the men had exited their car with guns in hand “we had two deputies with rifles prepared to stop any threats.”
The 4:41 p.m. crash launched two foot chases as the uninjured men, who didn’t appear to be armed, ran in opposite directions across the highway. One darted west through the stopped traffic, and another ran east through moving northbound traffic.
The heavy police presence and sirens had people in the area on alert and callers began reporting the fleeing men, Cash said. The first one was found about 5 p.m. when a resident on Old Redwood Highway called to say someone was apparently trying to steal a car. East of the highway, callers helped point searchers to a recreational vehicle storage facility where they found the second man hiding among boats and RVs.
Officers arrested Donovan Saari, 27, of North Highlands near Sacramento and Rashard Lafrance, 25, of Florida, suspecting them of robbery and false imprisonment. Saari also was arrested on suspicion of felony evading and reckless driving and Lafrance was arrested on suspicion of interfering with an officer. They were transported to the Mendocino County Jail. Bail was set for each at $150,000. The crashed car and contents were taken to Willits for the police investigation.
Deputies found .38- and .40-caliber ammunition in the car but no guns. A gun-sniffing dog was brought in to trace their steps but no weapons were found.
Willits police June 7 said the robbery occurred at the Edgewood Motel on South Main Street. Officers were called at 3:40 p.m. by a victim who said the would-be buyers had pulled out a handgun, made the victim get on the ground, grabbed the weed, kept the money, stole the victim’s belongings and fled.
Willits police issued an alert for the car and armed suspects.
Ukiah police spotted the car on the highway and started a pursuit that grew to involve three officers, two CHP officers and a CHP plane.
Ukiah Police Sgt. Chris Long said the suspects briefly pulled over for officers north of Hopland. Officers ordered them out at gunpoint but the men sped off and returned to the highway and the pursuit resumed.
Willits police June 7 wouldn’t say how much money and marijuana were involved but indicated a large of amount of money, marijuana and ammunition was found in the car.
