Sacramento men suspected of tying up two in Jenner, fleeing with pot, cash

A late-night robbery of marijuana in Jenner on Thursday led deputies on a pursuit of three men in a Lexus that ended when a spike strip disabled the car in Petaluma, Sonoma County Sheriff’s officials said.

Two men in a Jenner home told deputies they were bound with zip ties by acquaintances from Sacramento who ended what had been a friendly visit Thursday night when they pulled out guns, Sgt. Spencer Crum said. The Sacramento men took an undisclosed amount of marijuana and cash, fleeing in a black Lexus with tinted windows, Crum said. The bound men - a 56-year-old Jenner resident and a 33-year-old Petaluma man - were able to cut the zip ties, calling 911 about 11 p.m. from the Jenner house on Highway 1 near Wright Drive, Crum said.

After the report went over the radio, a deputy near Bodega Bay spotted the Lexus heading south on Highway 1 near Bodega Highway, Crum said. He pulled the Lexus over near Dinucci’s restaurant in Valley Ford. Under orders, the front passenger exited the vehicles. But the driver then “slammed it into gear” and sped off, Crum said, a second passenger still in the car. A state parks ranger stayed with the first passenger, Donald Hawkins, 39, while the deputy drove after the fleeing Lexus. Deputies in Petaluma deployed a spike strip to deflate the tires and the driver, later identified as 38-year-old Nolan Bush, pulled into the CVS parking lot on East Washington Street, Crum said. Bush backed up the vehicle in what appeared to be an attempt to crash into several deputies, but the Lexus was stopped when a patrol car rammed into it, Crum said.

Hawkins, Bush and Brandon McCoy, 27, all of Sacramento, were arrested on suspicion of robbery, false imprisonment and other suspected crimes related to the robbery, Crum said. They were being held at the Sonoma County Jail. Bush was also arrested on suspicion of felony evading police, assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Deputies searched the Lexus and found two handguns, masks, gloves, an unused zip tie and a “large amount” of packaged and processed pot.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.