Stolen Car Found Ablaze in West Marin

A blazing fire in a stolen SUV in was extinguished early Wednesday morning near Nicasio Reservoir west of Novato, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP Officer Ralph Caggiano said the car fire in unincorporated Marin County on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road near Platform Bridge Road was reported at 2:39 a.m. The SUV, a 2004 Ford Escape, had previously been reported to authorities as stolen from an address in Rohnert Park, he said.

CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said the vehicle had been abandoned the remote area west of Nicasio Reservoir and east of Point Reyes Station.

"It appears somebody may have stolen the vehicle and burned it," Van Eckhardt said, adding that the car thief may have driven out to the isolated area, set the car on fire and fled the scene with the assistance of a driver in a different car.

— Bay City News Service