A Sonoma County man is behind bars today, the suspect in an attempted kidnapping that's shaken the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
As reported Monday, police say that a man attempted to grab a woman and drag her into his car as she walked on the 2800 block of Steiner Street, which is between Green and Vallejo Streets at 8:50 p.m. Saturday.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, the suspect fled in a silver Nissan pickup truck after a witness intervened to thwart the kidnapping. According to the Chron, the Samaritan "saw the incident from another car and began honking the horn, trying to get the abductor’s attention...The horn “distracted him and he took off” without the woman, a police spokesperson said.
The following day, police followed a lead that sent them to the Sonoma County city of Cotati, where they say they "located the suspect driving his vehicle."
"The SFPD officers followed the vehicle and requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol," police say via a written statement. "When CHP officers attempted to pull over the vehicle, the suspect fled."
Eventually the suspect, who's been identified as 46-year-old Cotati resident Darrin Bravo, was "arrested after colliding with another motorist in the city of Petaluma."
The occupants of the other vehicle involved in the crash were not seriously injured, police say. Bravo was transported back down to SF, where he was booked into County Jail on felony charges of attempted kidnapping. And there he remains as of publication time, held under $300,000 bail.
According to a police spokesperson, "The quick arrest in this incident is directly attributable to the intervention of witnesses who interrupted the kidnapping attempt and provided valuable information to responding officers."
Also praised are the investigating officers, who SFPD says "were able to identify the suspect and locate him in another jurisdiction less than 24 hours after the initial incident."
Previously: Witness Saves Woman From Pacific Heights Kidnapping