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1:21 PM: Appeal pal Jessica Roy came across a bizarre scene involving police, fire, and at least one civilian at Market and Kearny a little after 1 PM today.
“Four cop cars and an undercover cop cornered an Asian woman in a Volvo,” Roy tells the Appeal “pulled her out of the car, have her held to the ground and are arresting her.”
Describing the woman as “hysterical,” Roy says the woman “was driving the Volvo and (SFPD) pulled her over and blocked her in” before strapping her onto a gurney. The woman “didn’t seem hurt, just scared/upset.” Roy says that an ambulance and fire truck also appeared on the scene.
Quite an odd situation, right? “I’m just getting calls on that” SFPD spokesperson Lt. Lyn Tomioka told me when I called the police media relations unit. She’s promised to call back when she has more information, and I’ll update then.
Update 2:10 PM: According to Tomioka, at 12:58 this afternoon, an officer observed the Volvo-driving suspect traveling at a high rate of speed down Kearny. When he attempted to stop her, she refused, and led him on a chase through the downtown area. During the pursuit she reportedly hit at least one civilian vehicle and one unmarked SFPD vehicle and went the wrong way down Pine, Sutter, and Sansome.
The suspect eventually stopped at 3rd and Market, where she refused to leave the car. The officer, who’d called for assistance, pulled her from the car and took her into custody. “There appeared to be some mental health issues” Tomioka said.
Tomioka says that since at least one civilian vehicle was “slammed into” during the suspect’s dash through downtown, she will likely face criminal charges. The suspect, who Tomioka says was not harmed as she was taken into custody, was transported to SF General for a mental health evaluation.
2:33 PM: Tomioka just followed up with me, with some more details on this strange case. First, she says, the suspect is 15-years-old, so was of course not a licensed driver in California.
Tomioka also says that, despite earlier reports she received, the suspect did not hit an unmarked police car, and, while they did get a report of the suspect hitting at least one civilian car, SFPD has yet to interview the damaged vehicle’s driver to definitively confirm this.
3:00 PM: Commenters Tom Prete, who was listening to the chase on the SFPD scanner, and witness Jessica Roy, both said that there was a dog in the car with the teenaged suspect. But is it OK? Where did it go? I called SFPD to find out.
Tomioka, who must be getting incredibly sick of me by now, confirms that there was indeed a dachshund in the car during the chase, that it was unharmed, and that it is presently in the care of Animal Care and Control.
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