Point Reyes Light - November 20, 2003
Kidnapper admits guilt but pleas 'not guilty'
By Ivan Gale
A Penngrove man accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in Kentfield on Nov. 6 and sexually assaulting her as he led Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase through West Marin pled not guilty Tuesday to five felony charges.
Marin Superior Court Judge Terrence Boren denied a request for $600,000 bail for John Robert Barossi, 36, who owns an auto-repair shop in San Rafael.
Judge Boren denied bail because he found there to be enough evidence the defendant posed a danger to the public, deputy District Attorney Ed Berberian told The Light Wednesday.
Five felony charges
Barossi faces charges including kidnapping with intent to commit a sex crime, evading arrest, child endangerment, and two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and evading police. If convicted, he faces a term of 25 years to life.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Haakeson told the court Barossi, during the crazed kidnapping, explained to the victim he knew he was going to jail and wanted to "make it last."
Despite pleading innocent, court documents filed before the arraignment revealed Barossi admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting the girl.
"It’s not unusual for anyone to enter plea of not guilty regardless of what may have occurred during the investigation," Berberian said.
A preliminary hearing has been set for Thursday, Jan. 8.
Barossi told authorities he also has a cocaine-addiction problem, though it is not known whether he was under the influence of drugs while abducting the girl from a busy Kentfield street in broad daylight.
Immediate calls
Calls to authorities came almost immediately. Many bystanders reported a girl trying to escape from a swiftly moving white pickup truck headed Westbound on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
Deputy Brendan Bosse spotted Barossi’s Ford F-350 truck near Tocaloma and gave chase.
Deputy Dan Maples then laid a roadblock on Highway 1 north of Olema but Barossi, an amateur drag racer, avoided it by veering off the road. Barossi and then led deputies through downtown Point Reyes Station and up through the Mesa before turning north on Highway 1.
Reaching 80 miles per hour, the pickup and patrolcars sped through Marshall and up to Tomales before turning east on Tomales-Petaluma Road and then merging on Bodega Highway, where the Sonoma County Sheriff’s department were waiting with a roadblock and spike strips.
The spikes punctured the truck’s tires, ending the chase.