Woman Jumps Out Of Stolen Car & Into Russian River: Healdsburg PD

HEALDSBURG, CA — A woman suspected of driving a stolen car was placed under arrest Tuesday night in the Russian River after she eluded officers for almost an hour, the Healdsburg Police Department said.

It started around 11 p.m. Tuesday when Healdsburg police Sgt. Will VanVleck saw a suspected stolen car on Healdsburg Avenue near Memorial Bridge, according to a statement on the Healdsburg Police Department's Facebook page.

As the sergeant turned his patrol car around in an attempt to stop the driver, she quickly got out of the car and ran through Railroad Park, then jumped the fence into the river, police said in a statement posted to social media.

With help from Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies, officers set up a perimeter in an effort to take the driver into custody.

The suspect remained in the river and along the river bank for almost an hour, eluding officers, until Officer Teygan Mason entered the river and placed her under arrest.

Police identified the suspect as Angelica Smith, a 25-year-old local Healdsburg transient.

She was booked at the Sonoma County jail on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting/obstructing officers, police said.