Petaluma Man Arrested as He Tries Boarding Bus to Arizona

A Petaluma man who eluded police on New Year's Eve was arrested in
San Francisco Wednesday night as he was about to board a bus to Arizona.

A sheriff's deputy tried to stop the driver of a Honda for a traffic violation around 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Sgt. Mike Raasch said.

The car sped off and pulled into a driveway in the 2600 block of Stony Point Road in Santa Rosa. Connor Woods, 21, and a Petaluma resident, threw a backpack out the left rear door of the Honda, which was driven by someone else, and fled the vehicle, Raasch said.

Woods and the deputy jumped fences during a pursuit through yards in the area, Raasch said. When the deputy was 40 feet behind Woods, he heard a loud pop he believed to be a gunshot, Raasch said. The deputy didn't see Woods fire the gun but he found a 22-caliber revolver with one expended round near Woods' jacket, Raasch said.

Woods escaped and the driver of the Honda drove off during the pursuit, Raasch said. A sheriff's detective contacted Woods by phone on Monday, but
Woods refused to turn himself in or say where he was, Raasch said. 

On Wednesday, detectives learned Woods bought a bus ticket to Arizona that was scheduled to leave San Francisco at 10 p.m., Raasch said. Detectives waited at the bus depot at Beale and Folsom streets in San Francisco and arrested Woods at the ticket counter at 9:30 p.m., Raasch said.

The suspect was booked in the Sonoma County jail on a parole hold, possession of stolen property, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a gun by a felon, a gang charge and assault with a deadly weapon, Raasch said. He is being held with no bail.

Detectives learned the gun Woods allegedly possessed had recently been stolen during a residential burglary, Raasch said.