Woman, adult children arrested in separate stolen car cases in San Rafael
A woman and her two adult children were arrested in connection with two separate stolen vehicle cases that also involved police chases, authorities said Thursday.
San Rafael police said just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, an automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera network alerted officers to a stolen vehicle in the area of Second Street and Irwin Street. Officers searched the area and one officer briefly spotted the vehicle in downtown San Rafael but then lost sight of it.
The vehicle was captured minutes later on another ALPR camera on Manuel T. Freitas Parkway, and when officers responded they located the vehicle with two people inside, police said. The two were later identified as San Rafael resident Letta Neka Glover, 53, and her daughter Diehima Sharie Collins, 34.
Police said Collins was driving the vehicle and she accelerated when officers tried to pull her over. Collins unsuccessfully tried to evade a spike strip and collided with another vehicle, police said, but nevertheless backed up and continued to drive away, leading officers on a chase onto southbound U.S. Highway 101. During the chase, a deflated tire came off the vehicle before it exited the freeway and eventually pulled over on the southbound Hetherton Avenue on-ramp.
Officers arrested Glover and Collins and booked them into the Marin County Jail. Collins was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle, felony evasion, hit-and-run vehicle, conspiracy to commit a criminal offense, and driving without a license. Glover was charged with felony possession of a stolen vehicle, felony evasion, and conspiracy to commit a criminal offense.
Police said the vehicle had been stolen from Newark. No one was injured in the collision.
On Thursday at about 6:20 a.m. a person called police to report their vehicle had been stolen from the 4200 block of Redwood Highway in San Rafael's Terra Linda area. About an hour later, the victim called back to report the vehicle had just driven by.
Police said officers arrived and found the vehicle occupied by Glover's son, 38-year-old San Rafael resident Deandre Ronell Lowery, still in the office complex parking lot on the 4200 block of Redwood Highway. Lowery tried to evade police by driving to the rear of the parking lot, jumping out of the vehicle, and running toward a nearby creek, police said.
Police set up a perimeter and requested aid from the Marin County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses told officers the suspect fled to the creek area between the 4200 block of Redwood Highway and Mitchell Boulevard. A deputy spotted Lowery at the end of Mitchell Boulevard and chased him back into the creek area, where he became stuck in waist-deep mud, police said.
Lowery was eventually freed from the mud and arrested. Inside the stolen vehicle, officers found stolen property connected to at least four other auto burglaries, police said. He is also suspected in three other attempted stolen vehicle cases.
Police booked Lowery into the Marin County Jail on charges of felony possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, obstructing a peace officer, and possession of a controlled substance/narcotic. He may face additional charges pending the results of the ongoing investigation, police said.
Anyone with additional information was asked to call San Rafael Police at (415) 485-3000. Tips can also be made online at srpd.org/tips.
