Car Break-In Leads To High-Speed Hwy 101 Pursuit

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men on suspicion of auto burglary at the Toys R Us store in Santa Rosa after a vehicle pursuit that reached speeds of over 100 mph on Wednesday afternoon.

The owner of the vehicle saw the two men trying to burglarize his car in the store’s parking lot and interrupted them before calling the sheriff’s office around 4 p.m., Lt. Greg Miller said. He then got into his car and followed the suspects who fled in a rented vehicle.

The pursuit through downtown Santa Rosa streets and on Highway 101 began when sheriff’s Deputy Sal Borusso tried to stop the suspects’ car on northbound U.S. Highway 101 near Hearn Avenue, Miller said.

At one point the suspects’ vehicle collided with another vehicle causing minor damage but no injuries, Miller said. Sheriff’s deputies cancelled the pursuit when suspects drove in excess of 100 mph in the southbound lanes of Highway 101 but watched the vehicle from a distance, Miller said.

The suspects’ vehicle got a flat tire when it exited the highway at Todd Road but continued driving slowly north until it collided with a curb and spun around on Dutton Meadows and Cass Road in Santa Rosa, Miller said.

Deputies arrested Johnie Daniels, 24, of Santa Rosa, and Mark Gallo, 21, a Santa Rosa area transient, for conspiracy, burglary and possession of a controlled substance that was found in the vehicle, Miller said.

Daniels also was arrested for evading police and hit-and-run. Daniels posted bail and Gallo remains in jail. He will be arraigned Monday afternoon in Sonoma County Superior Court, a jail spokeswoman said.

--Bay City News