Crime & Safety
Stabbing Suspect Arrested Following Shelter-In-Place In San Rafael
San Rafael police searched for hours for a woman they allege stabbed a fellow resident at a local homeless shelter.
SAN RAFAEL, CA — A cross-town search for a woman who allegedly stabbed a fellow resident at a homeless shelter in San Rafael and later threatened someone else with a knife led to an hours-long shelter-in-place order Tuesday.
Antoinae Tajzahnique Austin, 30, was arrested a little before 9 p.m. Tuesday after allegedly stabbing someone in the stomach during an argument at the shelter in the 3300 block of Kerner Boulevard, San Rafael police said Wednesday.
The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening, police said.
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After the stabbing, which was just before 5:30 p.m., Austin allegedly fled to a Terra Linda neighborhood about three-and-a-half miles from the shelter.
Then, at about 6:30 p.m., she allegedly threatened someone with a knife near the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and North San Pedro Road, according to police.
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Police initiated a search of the area, including a large expanse of open space between U.S. Highway 101 and China Camp State Park.
A drone team from the Marin County's Sheriff's Office and a California Highway Patrol helicopter unit assisted in the search and a shelter-in-place order was given for residents in the Royal Glenn, San Pablo and Village Circle areas.
During the search, however, Austin had allegedly made it all the way back to the shelter on Kerner Boulevard and police were sent back to apprehend her there at about 7:50 p.m.
She was arrested after locking herself inside a bathroom and refusing to come out.
Officers forced the door open and took her into custody after about 40 minutes, police said.
Austin is being held in Marin County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, according to jail records. Her bail was set at $50,000.
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