Redwood City: Woman calls, then steals tow truck, leading cops on lengthy pursuit, authorities say
REDWOOD CITY — A 35-year-old woman was arrested after she stole a tow truck before leading authorities on a wild chase where she stopped once to burglarize a home and stopped again to assault her boyfriend before being apprehended, police said.
The Monterey resident was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, burglary and other offenses, according to the Redwood City Police Department. Four days earlier, she was arrested in a separate burglary, and a week prior she bailed out of jail in a domestic violence-related case, police said.
She was set to be arraigned Wednesday after refusing to attend a hearing Tuesday, according to the office of San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe.
The latest incident started around 6 p.m. Friday, when the woman stole the tow truck after calling to have her car towed to a car-rental business, according to prosecutors. A Redwood City police officer later spotted the truck empty in a fast-food restaurant parking lot in San Carlos.
Police said they attempted a high-risk traffic stop on the woman, but she repeatedly rammed into two patrol cars, pushing one vehicle through the parking lot before she escaped. One officer was treated at a hospital for injuries suffered when the woman struck his car; that officer was later released.
She then took off onto Highway 101, reaching speeds of up to 90 mph while California Highway Patrol and Menlo Park police officers joined the chase.
Authorities said she next hit another vehicle before braking as a CHP vehicle caught up to her, damaging and disabling the patrol vehicle.
At some point, police discovered that the tow truck had a GPS tracker; they said they followed her movements as she returned to Redwood City, parked the truck and burglarized a house on Silver Hill Road. The suspect had babysat at the house years before, prosecutors said; a nanny and children were inside when she stopped at the house on Friday.
While she was away from the truck, authorities asked the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to deploy spike strips and a drone, but she fled before they could try to stop her.
Her last stop was at a gym near downtown Redwood City, where she allegedly assaulted her boyfriend, who works there, according to police. She was finally arrested after officers deployed a police canine.
The woman was treated for dog-bite related injuries to her hip and leg before being booked into Maguire Correctional Facility.