History Watch: “The Israeli”

History Watch

“The Israeli”

Most residential burglars have two rules they live by.  Get in and take what you can and don’t hurt anyone.  With a national clearance rate of about 11 percent, burglary is not a bad crime to commit as long as you live by those two rules.

But there was one person in Marin who apparently did not get the memo.  Mohmud Jamal, a 27 year old citizen of Israel, was gainfully employed as a residential burglar in late 1990 and early 1991.  He drove a stolen white Nissan and during the day he would drive around Marin County and break into houses and get whatever loot he could.  In fact he became very good at his profession having successfully performed over 30 burglaries without any police interference.

But as most criminals do, Jamal became a little too greedy, continuing to burglarize homes during daylight hours.  It all came to an ugly end on January 24, 1991.  On that day, Jamal was out and about in his white Nissan casing neighborhoods thinking that it would be just another day at the office.  After all, he thought the police had no idea who he was, but that was not exactly the case. 

The police, who had wanted to put an end to this crime series, started to go out and look for the suspect.  At 12:15 PM, a Twin Cities detective was patrolling Corte Madera in an unmarked car when he spotted Jamal in the white Nissan.  The detective felt that it might be a match and he started to follow Jamal who drove north on Highway 101 and into the Terra Linda area of San Rafael.  San Rafael P. D. had been notified and Officer Larry Holguin attempted to pull the car over on the frontage road by Freitas Parkway.

Jamal, who apparently made a promise to himself to never get caught, took off in the car with Holguin in pursuit.  Jamal had one other thing going for him to aid in his escape.  He had a loaded handgun in the car. Jamal drove south on Highway 101 where he turned around at the San Pedro Road exit and he then got back onto Highway 101 northbound.  By the time he got to Novato, there were eight police units behind him.  Jamal took the Rowland Blvd. exit and got back on the highway going southbound towards San Rafael reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour.

He continued to San Rafael where he took the Andersen Drive exit by the Highway 580 overpass where he promptly crashed his car.  Highway Patrol Officer Jerry Monge was one of the first officers there and he watched as Jamal bailed from the car holding a handgun.  The car chase had now turned into a foot chase with officers in pursuit.  Jamal ran toward Cox Automotive on Bellam Blvd. and Andersen Drive and he ran under the old railroad trestle on Woodland Avenue.

When he saw that officers were closing in on him, he promptly fired shots at them to get them to stop.  San Rafael Officers Jim Cook and Mike Fielding ordered the suspect to stop and when he refused, Fielding shot him in the abdomen, bringing Jamal’s crime spree to an end.  Jamal was promptly taken into custody and he was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

Jamal was booked on charges of attempted murder of a police officer and auto theft.  A search warrant was obtained for Jamal’s San Rafael apartment and truck loads of stolen property were found there.  Jamal, who broke the rules by arming himself and shooting at the police received a long prison sentence.

Attached are two photos showing the aftermath of the chase.

Copyright 2016 Harry Barbier – All Rights Reserved