Healdsburg Woman Arrested, Accused Of Robbing Gas Station

Windsor police and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Healdsburg woman after a vehicle pursuit Thursday on suspicion of robbing a Windsor gas station, police Chief Chris Spallino said.

The suspect displayed a handgun to the clerk of the gas station on Hembree Lane and fled with cash north on U.S. Highway 101 in a silver Toyota 4-Runner, Spallino said.

Police responded to the Shell gas station around 4:55 p.m.

An officer tried to stop the Toyota on the highway in Central Windsor but the suspect drove north to Healdsburg, then south on Old Redwood Highway back to Windsor at speeds up to 80 mph, Spallino said. Sheriff’s deputies joined the chase and deployed a spike strip that flattened three of the Toyota’s four tires, Spallino said.

The suspect, identified as Samantha Mana Bray, 37, got out of the Toyota and tried to force her way into the vehicle of a passing motorist, Spallino said. Police officers then arrested Bray and found a pellet pistol and cash believed to be from the robbery in Bray’s Toyota, Spallino said.

Bray was arrested on suspicion of robbery, evading arrest, attempted carjacking and violating probation and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Sonoma County Superior Court.

She was booked under $54,000 bail in the Sonoma County Jail under the name of Samantha Nana Tamez and also is known as Samantha Nana Tamez, Samantha Nanachan Bray and Samantha Tamez Bray.

Court records show a history of misdemeanor and felony convictions for drugs, theft, hit-and-run and assault dating back to 2003. Her most recent conviction was in March for giving a false identification to a police officer.

--Bay City News