Third Suspect Arrested in Halloween Assault-Robbery

A third woman was arrested Friday in connection with a bizarre Halloween armed robbery and assault in Novato, police said.

A Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy spotted a person matching the description of a woman wanted in connection with the beating of a 46-year-old Novato man at his home in the 2400 block of Center Road, Novato police Lt. Keith Heiden said Friday.

Molly Anna Blumberg, 21, was seen walking on Liberty Road in Petaluma at 1:50 p.m. and arrested on an outstanding warrant related to the Novato case, Heiden said. She was booked at Sonoma County Jail and bail was set at $275,000.

All three accused women — including Teresa Gollihugh, 20, and her mother, Keren Anne Blake, 39 — have hometowns listed as "all points," police jargon for homeless.

An emergency call was received at 1:48 a.m. Oct. 31 near Center Road and Sutro Avenue regarding a man yelling for police, said acting Lt. Jennifer Welch. The man was bleeding from a cut to the forehead and was taken to Novato Community Hospital by a medical crew from the Novato Fire District. Welch said the man received extensive sutures.

According to the initial investigation, a woman went to the man's house dressed as a fairy and asked to use the phone. The woman dressed as a soldier and armed with a handgun then arrived and a struggle ensued, Welch said.

The man took away the gun but dropped it, according to the preliminary report. The two women beat the man with a metal lamp, a large coffee mug and bottles of alcohol, then called in a third woman to aid in the assault.

Police said Gollihugh was the one dressed as a soldier. She and the man knew each other, police said.

Gollihugh was arrested later that day in the 400 block of Tomales Road in the rural Two Rock area of Sonoma County. The Marin Independent Journal reported that Gollihugh was recently discharged from the U.S Coast Guard.

On Nov. 1, Blake was apprehended by Petaluma police at a transient camp along the Petaluma River. Officers acted on a tip that Blake might be at the camp near the railroad tracks behind the 900 block of Petaluma Boulevard, and she was detained until Novato police arrived.

Blake and Gollihugh face identical felony charges of burglary, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, battery and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the Marin County Jail booking log. Both face misdemeanor charges of exhibiting a firearm as well, and their bails were set at $100,000.

Following Blake's arrest detectives went to residences in Petaluma and Santa Rosa and recovered the handgun and stolen property, Heiden said.

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