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Suspect Fleeing CHP Dies in Marin County Crash

GREENBRAE (KPIX) -- A suspect in a chase involving the California Highway Patrol died in a crash late Thursday afternoon in the unincorporated Marin County community of Greenbrae, a CHP spokesperson said.

The crash happened at about 4:50 p.m. as the suspect was exiting southbound Highway 101 at Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Officer Patrick Roth said.

Fatal Crash on Sir Francis Drake in Greenbrae
Fatal crash on Sir Francis Drake in Greenbrae, Jan. 2, 2020. (CBS)

According to the CHP, two officers were originally responding to a call at Marin Square where some people flagged down two officers and told them a man was busting windows and burglarizing cars.

"He was holding what appears to be a tire iron and there was some glass on the floor like he had just broken the window of a vehicle," Roth said.

The man jumped into a pickup truck and drove away and the CHP pursued him for a short distance, then the suspect pulled away and drove about two miles along Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

A driver in a white pickup had a green light to exit the Bon Air shopping center at the intersection of La Cuesta and Sir Francis Drake and that truck ended up T-boning the suspect's pickup as the suspect ran the red light.

"The suspect vehicle then spun around and into a light pole and a bunch of other items back there," Roth explained. "The fire department showed up a couple of minutes after the crash and he was pronounced dead on the scene."

The driver who was pulling out of the shopping center suffered minor injuries.

"It's scary," said Eric Principe, a Greenbrae resident. "What scares the most is the street and how busy it is and how fast he was going with a lot of kids around here. That kind of thing is what freaks me out a bit."

© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report

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