Santa Rosa man suspected in highway chase ending in San Rafael

A Highway 101 pursuit ended early Thursday with police arresting a Santa Rosa man who’d been arrested at least one other time since March.

Buck Christopher Knell Jr, 25, was arrested after a Healdsburg police officer began chasing him around 2:15 a.m. Thursday at an unspecified location, according to the Healdsburg Police Department.

The officer was trying to pull over the suspect for riding a motorcycle without a license plate and Knell refused to stop, the agency reported in a Facebook post.

The suspect got onto southbound Highway 101 and reached 130 mph as he was chased by the Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers.

According to Healdsburg police, Knell pulled over in Novato to discard a gun before continuing south.

The chase entered San Rafael, where the suspect ran after reaching a dead end.

A sheriff’s deputy deployed a K-9 to arrest Knell, who had “a large amount” of methamphetamine, according to Healdsburg police.

Court records show Knell has at least two pending felony criminal cases in Sonoma County, including one for fleeing authorities in December.

Most recently, he was arrested March 27 on suspicion of possessing several guns and methamphetamine.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi