Point Reyes Light - November 13, 2003
Alleged kidnapper leads cops on chase up coast
By Ivan Gale
A Penngrove man, who led Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase through West Marin Thursday afternoon was charged at his arraignment in Marin County Superior Court on Monday with kidnapping, intent to commit a sex crime, evading arrest, child endangerment, and two counts of assault with a foreign object.
John Robert Barossi, 36, who has no prior criminal record, could face a maximum fine of 25-years-to-life in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to enter a plea on Tuesday.
Investigators this week said Barossi coaxed a high-school-age girl into his truck at a Kentfield busstop on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
High-speed assault
Barossi then sexually assaulted her as he led Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, past Olema, and north on Highway 1 through Point Reyes Station, Marshall, and Tomales.
After 40 minutes, the high-speed chase came to an end as the alleged abductor’s tires blew on a strip of spikes Sheriff’s deputies laid down across Bodega Highway, northwest of Petaluma.
Several callers reported to authorities they’d seen a girl struggling with a man in a white truck on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as it traveled through San Anselmo and Fairfax. One caller reported the girl was trying to jump out of the vehicle at White’s Hill.
Sheriff’s deputy Brendon Bosse spotted the truck in Olema. While giving chase over Olema Hill, Bosse said he also saw the girl try to escape by jumping out of the truck.
Barossi, an amateur drag racer, veered off the road to avoid a roadblock north of Olema set by deputy Dan Maples.
In Point Reyes Station, the truck turned onto Mesa Road and sped past downtown through the Point Reyes Mesa.
Chase slowed through Marshall
As deputy Bosse followed Barossi through town on Mesa Road, deputy Maples sped up Highway 1 to cut the truck off. Barossi beat both his pursuers to the highway and the chase continued north.
The vehicles topped speeds of 80 miles per hour. Recalling the chase, Bosse said at one point the truck passed another car on a blind curve.
The chase only slowed once through Marshall, deputies and eyewitnesses said.
"The cars drove by no faster than the speed limit," said Jim Gallagher of the Marshall Store.
After passing through Tomales, Barossi headed east onto Tomales-Petaluma Road and then Bodega Highway, where he found Sonoma County Sheriffs had set a roadblock and the road spikes.
After the accused kidnapper was arrested, Bosse said the girl emerged from the truck "crying, shaking, and very upset."