A CHP officer who stopped to check on a driver who had pulled over on the side of the road found both a sad and a criminal storyline along I-580 in the North Bay.
This happened Tuesday afternoon in San Rafael. An officer patrolling near the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard over-crossing noticed a U-Haul box truck on the right hand shoulder.
The driver, Diane Long of Concord, said she had run out of gas and was waiting for a friend to bring her the needed fuel. The CHP officer said she noticed Long was acting nervous.
A quick run of the U-Haul's license plates and the officer figured out the reason for the nerves: the vehicle was reported stolen out of Concord.
The driver then admitted that she had rented the truck at the beginning of the month, but failed to return it because she didn't have anywhere else to sleep. A mattress was among the things in the back of the truck.
The CHP officer also found several miscellaneous items, including three bags of concrete, recyclable plastic and some scrap metal.
Long told them she had been giving people rides in exchange for the items which she then turned in to recycle yards for gas money, according to investigators.
So that is the sad part of the story.
The criminal part comes in when you learn what else investigators found in the back of the truck. The CHP said they found approximately 1.2 grams of methamphetamine and a methamphetamine smoking pipe
Long booked into Marin County Jail for the following charges:
- Possession of a Stolen Vehicle
- Possession of Stolen Property
- Embezzling a Vehicle
- Possession of a Methamphetamine Smoking Device
- Possession of Methamphetamine
