Petaluma smash-and-grab, car chase, leads to thorny arrest

Two men suspected of brazenly breaking into cars early Friday evening led police on a chase through Petaluma, fleeing on foot after an officer rammed a patrol car into the suspect’s vehicle in an attempt to end the pursuit, police said.

Around 5:20 p.m., police received reports that two men associated with a white Chrysler sedan were smashing a car window in the parking lot of the Petaluma Village Premium Outlets, according to a news release from the Petaluma Police Department.

Within a few minutes, police located the Chrysler in the parking lot, though the driver immediately sped away from the 2200 Petaluma Blvd. North retail complex. The driver led police on a chase headed southbound on the heavily congested Petaluma Boulevard South, topping out at 60 mph, police said.

Less than a mile later, the driver made a left onto Shasta Avenue, which is a dead end street. When the driver attempted to turn around and flee, an officer used the front of his patrol vehicle to push the Chrysler onto an embankment to stop the chase, police said.

Two men fled on foot along the nearby railroad tracks, jumping fences to escape pursuing officers. Police eventually located the driver, identified as 26-year-old Texas resident Justin Wren-Lott, near the Oak Creek Apartments on Graylawn Avenue.

The passenger, identified as 22-year-old Vallejo resident Pierre Vines, was arrested a short distance away, where he was stuck in a bramble of berry bushes, police said.

Officers found three laptops, an iPad, a backpack and other personal items inside the vehicle that were traced back to four cars that had been broken into at East Washington Place and the outlets, police said.

Wren-Lott was treated at Petaluma Valley Hospital for a foot injury sustained during the pursuit before he was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of possession of stolen property, resisting a peace officer and attempting to evade a peace officer in a vehicle. He also has five outstanding felony warrants from Texas and San Francisco, police said.

Pierre Vines was booked into Sonoma County Jail on Possession of stolen property and resisting arrest, police said.