'Erratic' Marin Hit-And-Run Suspect Assaults Cops: Police

MILL VALLEY, CA — Two officers were assaulted Friday night by a "erratic" suspect who resisted arrest, the Mill Valley Police Department said.

The officers suffered bites and facial contusions but did not require hospitalization, Police Lt. Jacqueline Graf-Reis said.

Daniel James Armstrong Rauer, 35 of Rohnert Park, was arrested on suspicion of committing battery on a police officer and resisting arrest among other charges in connection with the incident, police said.

Rauer is also the suspect in three hit-and-run collisions – one in Novato and two along the highway – shortly before the Mill Valley crash, police said.

Rauer told the other person involved in the Novato collision that he had a gun in his vehicle according to police.

The Novato Police Department and the California Highway Patrol are investigating the hit-and-run collisions.

Officers at around 9 p.m. were summoned to the Arco station at 789 Redwood Highway Frontage Road on the report of a driver possibly under the influence who crashed into a retaining wall, police said.

Officers arriving at the scene found Rauer “standing near the gas pumps wearing only his undergarments and displaying erratic behavior,” police said in a statement.

Rauer appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant and was uncooperative with officers attempting to gain his compliance, police said.

He appeared to be experiencing hallucinations and was rambling incoherently according to police.

Officers converged when Rauer attempted to run back to reenter his vehicle, police said.

That's when “Rauer began to heavily resist” and assaulted the officers according to police.

Additional officers were summoned and Rauer was placed into a WRAP restraint device.

Medics checked Rauer for injuries before he was taken to Marin County Jail.

He was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, committing battery on an officer, driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license for chemical test refusal, operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, and driving without insurance.

Rauer in 2014 pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughterin Sonoma County for which he was sentenced to five years of probation.