A 30-year-old Novato woman jumped from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge into San Francisco Bay during a vehicle pursuit early this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officers spotted a Ford Focus weaving on southbound U.S. Highway 101 in San Rafael at about 2 a.m., the CHP said.
The officers tried to pull the vehicle over, and it initially stopped at a traffic light at Bellam Boulevard. Then without warning, the vehicle accelerated across Bellam Boulevard and onto the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
The suspect vehicle drove onto the span until it reached the beginning of the incline section, where the driver -- later identified as Kathryn Tynes -- got out of the car and ran toward the southern side of the span, the CHP said.
Tynes then jumped off the bridge and into the water, about a 20-foot drop.
Officers tried to talk to Tynes as she swam under the bridge, but she refused to get out and continued swimming toward Corte Madera.
A Tiburon police boat, a tug boat, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Marin County Sheriff's Office, the San Rafael police and the CHP responded to the area to attempt to locate the suspect.
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At about 3:45 a.m., Tynes was found in shallow water near Paradise Cay in Marin County.
A U.S. Coast Guard swimmer retrieved her and she was taken to Stanford Hospital for treatment.
Tynes was arrested for several offenses, including evading an officer, driving on a suspended license and violating probation.
