Multi-Agency Manhunt Envelops Greenpoint Area of Novato

Updated on May 20 at 11:06 a.m.:

Sheriff's deputies investigating this case have developed what they hope are some promising leads. Sheriff's Lt. Doug Pittman confirmed that authorities have pulled fingerprints from the abandoned Volkswagen Jetta and have witness descriptions of the suspects.

"Hopefully this will help us find the suspects," Pittman told Patch.

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A swarm of law enforcement spent several hours in the Greenpoint area of Novato Sunday afternoon in an unsuccessful manhunt for two people who out-raced a California Highway Patrol chase on Hwy. 37 and later were suspected of ditching a car and trying to steal at least two others, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

The manhunt was unsuccessful and was called off late Sunday evening, according to Sheriff's Lt. Doug Pittman, but deputies remained in the outskirts of the Greenpoint area just north of Hwy. 37 and east of Atherton Ave. in case the suspects resurfaced.

The incident began at around 2:30 p.m. Sunday when the Sheriff's Office received a call from the California Highway Patrol that their officers were in pursuit of a dark blue Volkswagen Jetta on westbound Hwy. 37, a chase that originated in the Vallejo area, Pittman said.  CHP officers later abandoned that chase, Pittman said, as the driver of the Jetta was driving recklessly at high speeds and continuing the chase was deemed unsafe for other drivers.

Approximately 70 minutes later, the Sheriff's Office received a report from a resident of Sutton Lane in the Greenpoint area that a resident discovered a dark blue Jetta, with no license plates, in his driveway, and that two other cars at the residence had been broken into, possible in an attempt to steal them, Pittman said.

A Sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene and was flagged down by a resident of School Rd., who said he spotted two people tampering with a neighbor's car, but that the suspects had fled on foot when he approached them, according to Pittman. 

At that point, authorities set up a perimeter and called in search dogs from both Novato and Petaluma police departments. Several officers from the CHP and Novato joined the search, and a fixed-wing Sheriff's Office plane flew overhead to try and spot the suspects, Pittman said.

The suspects were described as a Hispanic man with facial hair and wearing a brown plaid shirt, and a white woman with a short, stocky build and wearing a white tank top, Pittman said.

As the search commenced, authorities activated the TENS notification system to alert residents of all parts of the Greenpoint area between School Rd. and Hwy. 37 that a search was happening for two suspects but that there was no info as to whether or not they were armed, according to Pittman.

The suspects were last seen in the 300 block of School Rd. and fled on foot up into a wooded area, Pittman said.

Deputies were called to Hwy. 37 at Lakeville Hwy. at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday to assist CHP officers in an unrelated incident involving a stopped motorist allegedly in possession of a firearm, Pittman said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Marin County Sheriff's Office at 415-499-7233 or Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.