San Francisco

Man Arrested in SF Pursuit Day After Dragging Pleasant Hill Officer

NBC Bay Area

A man who fled from a traffic stop Monday in Pleasant Hill, briefly dragging the police officer who had pulled him over, was arrested Tuesday after a vehicle pursuit from San Pablo to San Francisco.

Anthony McClain, a 29-year-old San Pablo resident, was initially stopped for a vehicle code violation in the 2300 block of Monument Boulevard near Interstate 680 at about 7:50 p.m. Monday, according to Pleasant Hill police.

McClain provided false identification to the officer and refused to turn off the car and hand over his keys, then accelerated the car while the officer was partially inside it during a struggle over the keys. The officer was dragged briefly but was able to free himself without getting injured, police said.

McClain fled, but investigators were eventually able to determine his identity and learned he was on active parole with warrants out for his arrest. Shortly before noon Tuesday, officers spotted his vehicle in San Pablo and tried to stop it as it entered Interstate 80.

A pursuit ensued that headed west onto the Bay Bridge, where a California Highway Patrol officer "successfully deployed a tire deflation device" to disable the vehicle, police said.

McClain fled down an embankment from U.S. Highway 101 to Potrero Avenue, but San Francisco police eventually arrested him in the area of Potrero Avenue and 20th Street near Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, according to police.

He was later booked into Contra Costa County jail in Martinez.

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