Bay Area Cops Injured by Head-Banging Suspect in Stolen BMW

Three police officers were injured after trying to detain a man who had apparently been slamming his own head against the steering wheel of a parked car, the Central Marin Police Authority said Tuesday.

Marin police officers responded at around 10 a.m. Sunday to reports of a man in the driver’s seat of a parked car slamming his head against the steering wheel near a Shell gas station on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Greenbrae.

The reporting parties said they believed the man in the driver’s seat was possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Officers arrived and spoke to the man as he sat in a silver BMW station wagon with no license plates. A California Highway Patrol officer also arrived on scene.

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As the officers were checking if the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he attempted to start the vehicle against the officer’s orders.

Police said the man kept trying to start the car and wouldn't get out of the BMW despite officer's instructions. Officers then attempted to physically remove him from the driver’s seat, but he immediately resisted and fought the cops, police said.

Two Marin and one CHP officers sustained minor injuries in the act of pulling him out of the car, police said. He was then arrested.

Officers then discovered the BMW was reported stolen from Fairfax and the suspect was identified as a 45-year-old Oakland resident.

"The suspect admitted to recently ingesting heroin prior to contact with law enforcement," a Marin community alert said. "The suspect was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, a repeat offender enhancement for prior felony convictions for possession of stolen vehicles, battery on police officers, resisting arrest, and public intoxication."