San Rafael police have arrested a 39-year-old registered "high risk" sex offender after that man allegedly chased after several women - including at least two after police had first encountered him early Saturday morning - before the man's eventual capture and arrest, police said.
Police initially were called to an apartment complex on Laurel Place north of downtown at about 6:45 a.m. Saturday, on a report of a man seemingly "casing" the complex. Ten minutes later, a woman called police saying a man, whose description matched that of the casing suspect, chased after her for several blocks from Boyd Park, not far from Laurel Place. That woman eventually evaded the suspect, police said.
Police soon found the suspect, later identified as 39-year-old Willie Jones, a transient from San Rafael. The man then led police on a foot chase, and eventually evaded officers.
While searching for the suspect, officers were flagged down by another female victim who reported the same suspect had been following her as well. Twenty minutes after that, yet another woman called police dispatchers saying a man matching Jones' description had chased her before she ran into her place of work. She locked the door and barricaded herself inside while the suspect pounded on the door.
Police arrived at the business and found the suspect outside. He ran from police again, but officers soon contained him in a parking lot on Fourth Street under U.S. Highway 101, police said. The suspect then climbed a ladder to the roof of a nearby business; crisis negotiators from the Marin County Sheriff's Department were called to the scene to assist in getting the suspect down. After almost two hours of negotiating, the suspect was convinced to climb down and surrender, and he was arrested without further incident, police said.
Police discovered Jones had been released from jail on Aug. 9, and was considered a "high risk" registered sex offender who was out of compliance with his registration requirements. Jones was booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of several crimes, including stalking, resisting arrest/fleeing from a peace officer, false identification to a peace officer, trespassing, violation of probation and being out of compliance with sex offender registration terms.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call San Rafael Police at (415) 485-3000. Tips can also be made online at http://www.srpd.org/tips.
