In Your Town for Feb. 4, 2026

SAN RAFAEL

Suspect picks up
new DUI charge

A San Rafael man was arrested on allegations of intoxicated driving and recklessly evading the California Highway Patrol.

The incident started at about 3 a.m. Sunday on southbound Highway 101 near the Alameda Del Prado exit in Novato, where police saw a speeding Jeep Cherokee nearly crashing into a vehicle, CHP Officer Arthur Tellez said.

An officer followed the Jeep to San Rafael, where it ran a stop sign and a red light at North San Pedro Road. The driver sped off with police in pursuit, stopped at San Pablo Avenue and tried to run away, Tellez said. Officers detained the suspect and determined he was intoxicated.

Marcos Martinez Jimenez, 28, was booked into the Marin County Jail and released on bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges that include intoxicated driving with prior offenses, evading police and driving with a suspended license.

Last summer, Martinez Jimenez pleaded guilty to DUI for a crash that injured another driver and sheared a fire hydrant in downtown San Rafael. Police said he ran a red light before the crash, had a suspended license and was on probation for a prior DUI case at the time.

MARIN HEADLANDS

Wrong-way driving
alleged on bridge

An intoxicated driver was arrested after going north in the southbound lanes on the Golden Gate Bridge, police said.

The incident happened at about 4 a.m. Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol. Police stopped the driver on the right shoulder of southbound Highway 101 near Alexander Avenue in the Marin Headlands, CHP Officer Arthur Tellez said.

Officers found two loaded pistols and a loaded 31-round magazine in the vehicle, Tellez said. A juvenile passenger was released to a guardian.

Jose Gabriel Alencastro Palmas, 19, of American Canyon was booked into the Marin County Jail and released on bail. The Marin County District Attorney’s Office charged him with carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving the wrong way on a highway.

Alencastro Palmas could not be reached for comment. He is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 20.

NOVATO

Suspects accused
of home break-in

Novato police arrested three suspects who allegedly burglarized a vacant house and vandalized four vehicles.

The alleged crimes happened at about 9:30 p.m. Monday on Seventh Street near Somerset Drive, police Lt. Sophia Winter said. Police detained four suspects. The vehicle damage included spray paint and broken windows, Winter said. The residence also sustained thousands of dollars in estimated damage.

Novato residents Frisli Mariano Mazariegos Escalante, 20, and Oseas Rivas-Velis, 18, and Petaluma resident Luis Chaj Chanchaval, 19, were arrested on suspicion of vandalism, burglary and conspiracy. Police cited and released a 13-year-old suspect to his parents.

Rivas-Velis remained at the Marin County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $50,000 bail. Mazariegos Escalante and Chaj Chanchaval were no longer in custody and could not be reached for comment.