Fighting pair nearly run down Petaluma officer

Petaluma police Monday asked the public’s help identifying two people pictured in grainy surveillance photographs who were in a vehicle that almost ran over an officer.

The incident started about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 2 with two people fighting in a silver Audi sports car outside a 7-Eleven on Perry Lane and a clerk calling 911, Sgt. Ed Crosby said. Before officers arrived, the pair drove away, heading west to a Shell gas station at Lakeville Highway and Caulfield Lane where another clerk called 911 to report fighting.

Officers tried to talk with a woman behind the wheel, but she said, “We have to go” and drove away, Crosby said.

The woman nearly hit a backup officer getting out of a patrol car, forcing the officer to dash behind the vehicle to avoid being hit, according to Crosby. The Audi sped away, heading down Payran Street with its lights off, he said.

The officers didn’t pursue the vehicle “because of the elevated risk to public safety,” Crosby said in a statement.

Police received surveillance images Sept. 6 from the gas station and since then have been working with experts to enhance the pictures due to the low quality.

The woman, who appeared to be wearing a wig during one of the encounters because she had different hair styles at each location, was described as a black woman between 35 and 40 years old and standing between 5 foot 6 or 5 foot 8, police said. The man was described as 25 to 30 years old, between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 7 with a thin build, white tank top, baggy blue jeans, red shoes and a red hat.

Anyone with information about the case can call Petaluma police at 707-778-4372.

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