On Thursday, September 24, 2020 at about 6:23 pm, San Rafael Police Officers responded to the area of Las Gallinas and Freitas Parkway on the report of a person who brandished a weapon at a crowd of people.  Officers that responded learned that the suspect had a bucket with water and he was washing away the mural.  When he was approached by people in support of the mural, his bucket was kicked over and an argument ensued.  At some point during the argument, the suspect brandished a weapon (possibly a handgun or taser) at the group.  The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival. 

SRPD Detectives conducted follow up on this case.  The detectives interviewed witnesses, victims, and reviewed many tips provided by our community in this case.  Their investigation revealed the following:

A male resident of Marin County went to the mural with a bucket of water and a broom to remove the mural.  While he was there, he was confronted by three people who argued with him about what he was doing.  One of the subjects took the bucket of water and tossed it at the person scrubbing the mural.  In response to getting water thrown on him, the subject removed what SRPD detectives believe was a small taser from his pocket and pointed it at the subject who threw the water on him.  He then walked quickly across the street and fled the scene.

The subject who had the taser pointed at him was interviewed by responding officers the day of the event, but he gave a false name to officers and was never able to be identified.  SRPD Detectives did not recover the taser used in this case but based on specific descriptions given by the witnesses it is believed the subject pointed a taser not a handgun at the victim.

The case was sent to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office for review and they declined to press charges in this case.  We are not identifying the suspect by name due to no charges being filed.