Man Who Stole Truck From Rowland Gas Station Recently Released From Prison

The man who allegedly stole a pick-up truck from a Rowland Boulevard gas station had been recently released from prison under the reformed "three-strikes" law.

The vehicle was reported stolen Sunday morning after the driver left the keys inside and went inside the gas station. Police say Dale Curtis Gaines, 56, a Santa Rosa native who now lives in Mill Valley spotted the empty car and drove it off.

He was chased and subsequently arrested. He remains in custody.

This is not Gaines first brush with the law.

He was convicted of a theft-related crime in Sonoma County in 1997. Because he had two prior convictions for residential burglaries, he was sentenced to 27 years to life under the three-strikes law, according to the Marin Independent Journal. 

That life sentence was reduced to time served under Proposition 36, the 2012 ballot measure that allows lifers to seek a new sentence if the third "strike" was not a serious or violent offense, the newspaper reported.