San Rafael police chased some allegedly armed suspects across the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, ultimately making three arrests on Presidio Parkway after the suspects' car experienced engine failure.
The incident began around 2:15 pm Wednesday, when the San Rafael Police Department received a report of an altercation and attack in the Terra Linda Safeway parking lot. Arriving officers say they were told that three suspects, two adults, and one juvenile, confronted two victims and got into a fight.
The suspects allegedly pulled out handguns during the fight, and while no shots were fired, one of the victims was struck in the head with the butt of a gun.
According to police, the suspects fled the scene, but were soon spotted by officers, who attemped a trafffic stop. The suspects' vehicle allegedly fled from the officers, driving onto the 101 freeway and toward San Francisco.
CHP officers took over the pursuit over the Golden Gate Bridge, but San Rafael officers continued to follow. The suspects' car then had engine failure on Presidio Parkway, and officers arrested two adults and one juvenile in the car.
"During the arrest of the suspects, one of them was found to be wearing a backpack that had three loaded handguns and one loaded assault weapon," San Rafael Police Sgt. Justin Graham tells the Marin Independent Journal. "One of the guns was determined to be a ghost gun, meaning that it was not serialized. Officers also found extended ammunition magazines."
The two adults arrested were San Rafael residents Jechivon Anay Cifuentes Diaz, 22, and Jovardo Esmar Cifuentes Diaz, 18. The juvenile, who is 15, was booked into Marin County's Juvenile Hall.
The two adult males, who seem to be brothers, were booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, possessing an undetectable firearm, evading police, carrying a large capacity magazine, and exhibiting firearms.
The chase comes days after a controversial police chase in which three female suspects fled from San Francisco police in an allegedly stolen SUV after they were spotted near Stonestown Galleria. That chase ended more violently, in a crash into a restaurant parklet on 24th Street in the Mission District, leaving seven people injured including a child.
Photo: Chris Becker
