Santa Rosa man arrested after break-in, chase, crash

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Santa Rosa man Monday after he allegedly broke into a home, then fled in a car and led authorities on a pursuit that ended with a crash into a firetruck in a vineyard.

Michael Sean Phillips, 45, was arrested on suspicion of evading arrest, hit and run and violation of probation. He was booked into Sonoma County Jail with a bail of $30,000.

Officials said the incident began around 10:10 a.m. when a woman called 911 to report that a man had broken into her house in the 2000 block of Woolsey Road in Santa Rosa.

When she yelled at the intruder, he fled in a Toyota sedan, she told deputies.

About a half-hour later, a deputy spotted a similar-looking car on Mark West Station Road and tried to pull it over. Instead, the driver sped off and the deputy began chasing him, Sgt. Cecile Focha said.

Several other sheriff’s deputies and officers from Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale police and the CHP joined the pursuit. The driver passed vehicles and drove on the wrong side of the road, Focha said.

Eventually, a deputy cut off the pursuit for safety reasons, she said.

Soon after, a citizen then pointed into the direction of a vineyard where the suspect had turned, Focha said. A deputy found the vacant car, which had rear-ended a Sonoma County Fire Department truck on Westside Road.

Phillips was arrested nearby.