History Watch: “Catch Me if You Can”

History Watch:

“Catch Me if You Can”

In the early 1960’s it was all about fast cars.  Cruising on Fourth Street was very popular and kids and some adults enjoyed showing off their souped up cars on weekend nights.  Everyone seemed to have fast cars, except the San Rafael Police Department.  At the time the Department was driving Fords with 225 horsepower engines but many of the cars were old with high mileage and the Police Department soon got the reputation that their cars could not catch much of anything.

The turning point came in early 1963 when Officer Ray Bleasdale was on patrol in the Terra Linda area on Day Shift.  An armed robbery call came in with a suspect vehicle description and Bleasdale spotted the car getting onto Highway 101 southbound from the Freitas Parkway onramp.  Bleasdale pursued the car up Puerto Suello Hill, but with the pedal to the metal, the old Ford hardly made it to the top of the hill, much less catch the fleeing felons.  At about the same time, local kids were learning that they had faster cars than the police and on many an occasion, they outran pursuing patrol cars.

In late 1963, Chief Charles Chiesa went to the City Council and asked that the council purchase two new Dodge patrol cars that met the CHP specifications.  These cars had well over 300 horsepower and were rated to travel at a top speed of 130 mph.  After much discussion the council rejected Chiesa’s request on a 3 to 2 vote, citing the additional cost of each car.  The old Fords were destined to stay in the fleet for a while.

But sometimes with defeat, opportunity knocks on the door and that is exactly what happened.  In early 1964, Officer Michael Fisher, who had been on the force for six months, drove one of those Fords into a ditch on Woodland Avenue by Auburn Street.  The car was totaled and Chiesa immediately asked the City Council to buy a Dodge patrol car off the CHP bid to replace the wrecked one and they approved the request.

In the early summer of 1964 the first CHP Dodge was delivered to the San Rafael Police Department and it was promptly assigned as car #7.  It was also the department’s first black and white police car. The Department now had its new weapon to chase down people who had been out running them for several years.  And as fate would have it, that new car was about to be put to the test.

In the late summer of 1964, Officer Philip Green and Reserve Officer Lindy Roson were patrolling in car #7 when they observed a car with three juveniles in it speeding on Fourth Street.  Green pulled the car over at Fourth and Tamalpais Avenue, but as Green exited his car, the kids, who had been drinking, took off going east on Fourth Street and then north onto Highway 101.  Green jumped back in his car and the chase was on.  The pursuit went on for 30 miles with Green hitting speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour with the kids running other drivers off the road along the way.

Green later commented that because Roson was handling the radio, he was able to light up a cigarette and smoke it during the chase.  With the help of several other police agencies, officers were able to box the suspect car in at Cotati and they got the car to stop.  All three kids were booked into juvenile hall on 17 different charges, including Assault with a Deadly Weapon.  Green’s first radio transmission to dispatch after the chase ended was, “Let the Sergeant know I didn’t damage the car.”

Patrol car #7 stayed up with the fleeing car with no problem and it went on to serve the Police Department very well using its powerful engine to stop violators.  A short time later the City Council authorized the purchase of four more Dodge patrol cars. Sadly, on February 5^th 1965 car #7, driven by Officer John Riordan, was totaled in a crash on rain slicked Highway 101 at Terra Linda while he was responding to a burglar alarm call at the Terra Linda Shopping Center.

Dodge patrol cars went on to become the main vehicle used in law enforcement for many years.  Many an officer can still recall hearing the roar of those engines after they called for backup.  They knew by that sound that it would not be long until help arrived.

Attached are two photos.  The first one is of the Ford that Officer Michael Fisher crashed that opened the door to the purchase of Dodge patrol cars.  The second photo is of patrol car #5, a sister car to #7 with San Rafael Police Chief Charles J. Chiesa standing by it.

Copyright 2015 Harry Barbier –All Rights Reserved