Police Swarm Bank, Handcuff Man After Short Chase

Police on Friday swarmed the area near the in downtown Novato in pursuit of a man who had fled the bank after trying to cash a counterfeit check, said.

One officer suffered two minor injuries and was driven to a hospital by another officer, police Lt. Keith Heiden said.

Jeffrey Earl Anderson, 49, of Oakland was booked in Marin County Jail at 6:35 p.m., a few hours after the incident witnessed by dozens of people inside the bank and along Grant Avenue and Sixth Street in downtown Novato.

It all started at 4:31 p.m. when a bank employee made an emergency call to report a man trying to cash a counterfeit check. Abdullah Aimaq of Wells Fargo said bank employees did their best to stall and give police more time to respond.

When an officer entered the bank, the suspect bolted outside and headed north up Sixth Street, Heiden said. Several more officers flooded the area and spent about 10 minutes hunting for the man before a local resident spotted the hiding suspect and gave officers a tip-off.

Three officers — including the one who originally entered the bank — apprehended the suspect in a fenced-in patio area of an apartment building, Heiden said. Anderson was escorted back to the bank and handcuffed while leaning over the trunk of a squad car at 4:41 p.m.

Heiden said the first officer inside the bank ended up suffering shoulder and ankle injuries. Battalion Chief Mark Heine of the said Anderson complained of rib pain after hurting himself scaling fences.

Anderson, who gave his occupation as a warehouse worker, faces felony charges of burglary, possession of forged notes and attempting to pass a fictitious check. Although Anderson did not steal anything, he faces a burglary charge because he entered the building with the intent to commit a felony or a theft.

Did you take photos of the police pursuit or capture of the suspect? Are you willing to share them with Novato Patch readers? If you're logged into the site, you can hit "upload photos" to this story or e-mail shots to brent.ainsworth@patch.com.