| | | These skid marks on the road on top of Resaca Street in Forest Knolls were made in a car chase involving John Perrotis. (Light photo by Jonah Owen Lamb) | |
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A Forest Knolls woman was dragged 30 feet down Resaca Street on Saturday morning after she blocked a road with her van and confronted a speeding driver, according to the sheriff’s department. Kate Hart, a well-known anti-war activist, was taken to Marin General Hospital where she is recovering. Her pelvis was fractured in several places and her clavicle was broken, said the hospital.
The alleged driver, John Pericles Perrotis, 20, was chased by a posse of local residents and cornered in his home where his mother and another woman brandished shovels and knives to keep the crowd at bay, until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested him. Perrotis has been charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of hit and run and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving, according to Deputy Distirct Attorney Barry Borden.
This is the third time Perrotis has been caught by local vigilantes for his dangerous driving. Several months ago he was pulled from his car after literally burning rubber through town and almost hitting several people, said Jim Emott, of Forest Knolls. Before that he was a passenger in a car that almost ran over an elderly man walking his dog. Perrotis ran but was corned by observers, said Deputy Scott Anderson.
Small roads
Most of the roads in Forest Knolls are small, windy and rutted. Even at the center of town beside Forest Knolls Park there is just enough room for two cars to pass one another. Many children play in these narrow streets including Hart’s granddaughter.
Saturday morning roadblock
Last Saturday Kate Hart had had enough. Perrotis was speeding through town in his mother’s new white GMC pickup when Hart blocked the bottom of Resaca Street with her white van, according to eyewitness Dawne Robertson, of Forest Knolls. As Hart’s van blocked Perrotis' way, Hart tried to talk to him, according to the sheriff’s department. When Perrotis put the truck in reverse and sped up the hill, Hart’s hand got caught on the mirror and she went flying into the bushes, said Robertson. Others witnesses interviewed by the sheriff’s department reported screaming and tires screeching on the road. Hart remembers little and said, “I got knocked out.”
Locals come to Hart’s aid
Robertson ran to Hart after she was flung into the bushes. Hart was conscious but incoherent and groaning in pain for five minutes, remembered Robertson. As a crowd gathered, some getting ice, others holding a blanket over Hart for shade, Hart told them that she just wanted to talk to Perrotis about his behavior.
“She was trying to tell him to slow down,” said Roberston. Hart’s recollection of what exactly occurred was fuzzy and Robertson remembers her saying, “I don’t know, I was holding on to the mirror.” Soon deputies and an ambulance from Woodacre arrived and Hart was taken to the hospital.
The chase
Meanwhile Johnny Griggs, who lives in front of the accident sight, stepped into Hart’s still running van and chased Perrotis. Griggs followed Perrotis up a hill to a dead end. On the hilltop the two cars spun around, striking several parked cars, then roared back down the hill, said the sheriff’s department. At the bottom of the hill other residents had parked their cars blocking Perrotis’ path to Sir Francis Drake Blvd., according to Geo Hart, who saw the chase. After being blocked from any other exit Perrotis drove up Montezuma Road, towards his mother’s home.
A posse surrounds the house
Griggs followed Perrotis to his house, said Emott, who followed after them. As Griggs approached the house, several women, including Perrotis’ mother, used knives and shovels to repel Griggs from entering the house said Emott.
Griggs ran to the rear of the house and allegedly found Perrotis running for the woods, at which point Perrotis quickly retuned to the safety of the house, said Emmott. As Griggs circled the residence banging on doors to keep Perrotis from running away, a crowd of 15 people surrounded the house, and some tried to enter. The front window of the house was broken with a brick in an attempt to unlock the front door, but the women protecting Perrotis kept the crowd at bay said Geo Hart. Soon deputies arrived and Perrotis was led away to jail past the jeering crowd.
Complaining for two years
“This has been going on for two years,” said Hart of Perrotis’ reckless behavior in a phone interview from her hospital bed on Wednesday. “The real story is why the police haven’t done anything about it.” She was referring to several incidents involving Perrotis, who lives on Montezuma Street with his mother Lisa Trishet. Locals have tried to talk to Perrotis’ mother and complained to authorities for some time about his reckless driving through the middle of town to no avail, said Uli Zangpo, a forest Knolls resident.
“We’ve received information that he drives recklessly in the area but it was unconfirmed,” said Lt. Scott Anderson.
A history of law-breaking
Saturday’s incident was indeed just the last in a series involving Perrotis, said residents.
“He should be put away already,” said Geo Hart, 18. “He’s been terrorizing the community for a while.”
Several people have witnessed Perrotis stealing but he was never been prosecuted, Zangpo explained.
Perrotis was a suspect in the severe beating of Randon Fernandes on Fourth of July in Bolinas but Borden said that they didn’t have “sufficient evidence to prosecute.”
On July 13, Perrotis pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, according to the Borden.
“There’s a lot of low-level crime here and when the vigilantes come around with sticks it’s a good thing,” said Forest Knolls resident Craig Swift.
Town fed up
Many in Forest Knolls see this incident as the final straw. Others agree but they have also known Perrotis since he was a child.
“There are a lot of people with kids who were pissed. He’s lucky he didn’t kill a kid,” said Emmot. “I wish there was something we could do for PJ. I’ve known him since he was three,” he said, using Perrotis’ nickname. “I don’t see it as a victory, sending him to jail. But what’s the other option?”
Supervisor Kinsey said, “A community with a high level of tolerance has to recognize that justice will move slowly.”
Sentence and jail
Perrotis is in Marin county jail with a bail of $25,000. If convicted of all charges Perrotis could face five years in jail, said Borden. Perotis was arraigned Tuesday but has not entered a plea. Neither Perrotis nor any of his family could be contacted by the time of publication.
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