Petaluma man arrested after 26-mile chase, search

After leading police on a 26-mile car chase Friday night through the North Bay, a Petaluma man was arrested Saturday while hiding in a creek bed near Tomales Bay, authorities said.

Brian Bakalar, 45, was arrested on suspicion of evading police as well as an outstanding felony warrant on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Petaluma police responded to the 500 block of Seventh Street around 7 p.m. Friday looking for the driver of a silver BMW believed to be involved in an assault investigation.

The officer attempted to pull over the car, but the driver, identified by police as Bakalar, failed to yield and did not obey stop signs, and he headed west out of the city on D Street, police said.

During the pursuit, which at times reached 85 mph, officers learned of Bakalar’s outstanding warrant, police said.

The chase ended at the 9400 block of Marshall Road, where the driver stopped the car and fled on foot, police said.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the CHP all joined the search for the suspect, but it was called off at midnight.

A Marin County sheriff’s deputy at 8 a.m. Saturday located the registered owner of the vehicle near where he abandoned the car, hiding in a creek bed. The owner, Brian Bakalar, said he was the driver of the vehicle involved in the pursuit, police said.

Bakalar was booked into the Sonoma County Jail.