Petaluma man in stolen car arrested after crashing into playground

A Petaluma man was arrested Thursday after reportedly fleeing law enforcement and crashing into a Santa Rosa playground under construction, authorities said.

Robert Dripps, 33, was being held on $30,000 bail at the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of vehicle theft, possessing stolen property, evading police, violating probation and resisting arrest, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Lt. Al Vernon said.

The pursuit began at about 2 a.m. Thursday when Petaluma police asked sheriff’s deputies to intercept a vehicle, which had been reported stolen, as the driver headed north from Penngrove on Petaluma Hill Road.

The driver, later identified as Dripps, didn’t stop when deputies tried to pull him over near Snyder Lane, leading the deputies on a two-mile pursuit that ended after the car turned left onto Kawana Springs Road, Vernon said. The driver lost control and crashed into concrete pilings around a neighborhood park in the area that was under construction. The lieutenant said Dripps tried to run away after the crash but was quickly apprehended.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.