Full Notification

Today at 10:12 AM, Deputies were dispatched to a house in the 2000 block of Woolsey, Santa Rosa. The resident called 911 when she heard to sound of glass breaking in the back of her house. She encountered a man and yelled at him. The man drove away in a black Toyota sedan. Deputies went to the residence and spoke with the homeowner while other Deputies search the area for the suspect.

About 30 minutes later, a Deputy spotted a car which matched the description of the one from the burglary. The car headed northbound on Mark West Station Road so the Deputy decided to stop the car and investigate. When he tried to stop the car, it sped off, taking various roads in an effort to evade arrest.

Numerous other Deputies responded to the area trying to head-off the vehicle. Assistance from CHP, Windsor, Healdsburg and Cloverdale Police Departments was enlisted. There was construction equipment, bicyclists and other vehicles on the remote roadways. The car’s speed varied and it was passing vehicles and driving on the wrong side of the roadway.

The suspect’s driving made it extremely dangerous for a road crew, their flagger and the people out riding bikes. The Deputy elected to stop pursuing the suspect car because it had become so dangerous for others on the roadway.

A citizen then pointed into the direction of a vineyard where the suspect turned on to a dirt road.
The Deputy soon found the car damaged and vacant, after it rear-ended a Sonoma County Fire truck on Westside Road in the Dry Creek area. The fireman saw the man run into the vineyard.

The area in which he fled was overgrown and the rows of grapevines were obscured by foliage. A perimeter was set up and a K9 was used to track the suspect’s direction of travel.

Shortly thereafter, a Deputy on the perimeter spotted a man matching the description of the driver. He detained the man without incident. The man was positively identified as the person driving the Toyota. He is Michael Sean Phillips, 45 years old, of Santa Rosa. Phillips was arrested for evading arrest, hit and run and violation of probation. He was booked into County Jail and bail was set at $30,000. The date and time of his arraignment has yet to be scheduled.


The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes Detectives took over the case and the incident is currently under investigation. Anyone with information pertaining to the event is encouraged to call the Investigations Tip Line at 707-565-2185.


Report #141110-011

Prepared by Sergeant Cecile Focha
Media Relations / PIO