A fellow named Buck came to San Rafael one day recently. Buck is 25 years old. He lives in Santa Rosa.

We don’t know where Buck started his trip toward Marin. We do know he was southbound when he passed through Healdsburg at 2:30. That’s two-thirty in the A.M.

It’s quiet in Healdsburg at 2:30 on a Thursday morning. It’s not surprising that a Healdsburg policeman noticed Buck. And decided it might be neighborly to have a chat with Buck. He could ask Buck why there were no license plates on his motorcycle.

But Buck seemed to be in a hurry. And perhaps just not in a palavering mood. He gunned the throttle and accelerated onward.

I’m guessing Buck’s rudeness offended the officer, who decided to call for help from his fellow members of the constabulary.

Soon, local police, county deputies and even a C.H.P. helicopter were hot on Buck’s tail. At speeds that reached 115 to 130 m.p.h. along Highway 101, according to the police.  

Buck was a ways ahead of his pursuers when he exited the freeway at downtown San Rafael. He zipped up E Street toward the Falkirk Cultural Center.

Perhaps Buck is a history buff. Perhaps he was eager to visit the historic Dollar Mansion on the site. Perhaps he was hoping to be first in line when the center opened in the morning. But that was still hours off.

Buck gunned it through the parking lot and into the woods behind the center. Where he crashed his motorcycle. And continued into the underbrush on foot.

It wasn’t long before a Sonoma sheriff’s deputy arrived with a police dog. Buck was taken into custody without further ado.

Buck’s next stop was Marin County’s underground pokey. He was booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in possession of drugs while armed, sales of drugs, felony evading officers, and committing another offense while out on felony bail.

Buck’s woes were compounded because police had retrieved a backpack he had jettisoned along the roadside as he careered toward Marin. Police maintained it contained a loaded firearm and narcotics.

And there’s more. On this fine spring morning, Buck was out on bail from Sonoma County. He had been arrested there just two months earlier. The charges included being a felon in possession of drugs as well as two loaded guns while near a school. A search of his home had turned up methamphetamine packaged for sale, a short-barreled assault-style rifle and a loaded pistol. 

All three firearms were ghost guns that Buck had made with his own two hands, police contended. The Sonoma raps added up to 11 felonies.

Not surprisingly, Buck was already no stranger to Sonoma law enforcement. He had been arrested in his truck early one morning in 2018 for what police described as “doing donuts” on the sports fields at not one, but two, local high schools.

Serious damage to the turf, the schools grumped. Felony vandalism, the police charged. Just trying to “let loose” and “have a little fun,” Buck countered, according to police. 

Police also found that he was in possession of a loaded revolver and cocaine. More cocaine, packaging materials and evidence of drug trafficking for sales were discovered when his truck was searched, the police announced.

Getting back to Buck’s ill-fated sojourn to Marin, in case you’re wondering how the gendarmerie and their chien managed to nab Buck so quickly, here’s the kicker: Buck was wearing an ankle monitor. Ping!

Wade Holland of Inverness posits that Buck may have an issue with making good life choices. He also assumes the perp Buck Knell of Santa Rosa, California, has no connection to the prestigious Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.