Man Jumps Off Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to Avoid Arrest: Police

SAN RAFAEL, CA — A San Pablo man jumped into San Francisco Bay Monday morning to avoid being arrested for domestic battery of his girlfriend, San Rafael police said.

Curtis Myron Odom, 22, allegedly assaulted the 24-year-old San Pablo woman during a struggle for the keys to her 2008 Dodge Cavalier outside the Conservation Corp North Bay office at 27 Larkspur St., police Lt.
Alan Piombo said.

The nonprofit conservation corps provides education and job training to more than 250 youth.

Odom worked for the corps but only wanted to pick up his paycheck, and he took the keys to the car so he would not be left stranded at work, Piombo said.

Odom pulled his girlfriend's hair during a struggle for the keys inside the Dodge and drove away when his girlfriend got out of the vehicle, Piombo said.

When the San Rafael Fire Department arrived and contacted the victim, Odom returned to the scene and tried to coax his girlfriend back into the car, Piombo said. He fled again when police arrived.

Police pursued Odom, who drove in excess of 70 mph on East Francisco Boulevard toward Main Street where he collided with a vehicle driven by a 53-year-old San Rafael woman, Piombo said.

The woman was treated at a hospital for neck pain caused when the air bag deployed during the collision, Piombo said.

Odom abandoned the Dodge, ran toward San Quentin and jumped into the Bay on the south side of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Piombo said. He refused to come out of the water and demanded his girlfriend come to the scene, Piombo said.

Police negotiated with Odom who remained in waist-deep water for nearly an hour before he was taken into custody, Piombo said. Odom was examined at a hospital and booked in the Marin County Jail for domestic
battery, vehicle theft, felony evading, hit-and-run and violation of parole.

The California Highway Patrol, Marin County Sheriff's Office, Larkspur Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard's Swift Rescue Boat Crew and helicopter also responded to the fracas.

— Bay City News Service

(Image via Shutterstock)