A 51-year-old woman led officers on a wild chase Monday afternoon that included a desperate swim in the San Francisco Bay near San Rafael before finally surrendering to multiple agencies.
The woman, identified as Julianne Riebeling, was on the run after allegedly hitting an employee with a bottle of alcohol and punching them several times at Andy’s Local Market at 75 Loch Lomond Dr., San Rafael Police said. She’s also accused of throwing items and breaking glass before leaving.
Police said Riebeling returned a short time later and tried to hit that same employee with a hammer.
When responding deputies with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office arrived, she fled the scene and ran toward the bay through a backyard in a nearby gated community. That’s when she swam into the bay to evade capture.
Officers from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, San Rafael Police Department, California Highway Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard were on scene by that point and trailed the suspect in a boat as she tried to swim away.
She headed to the southwest side of West Marin Island, where authorities waded into the water to meet her and take her into custody.
Riebeling was flown back to shore and treated at a local hospital before she was arrested and booked at the Marin County Jail for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting arrest.
Riebeling has no fixed address, police added.
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