Mill Valley Man Arrested After Driving Stranger's Mercedes Around the Block

A Mill Valley man was arrested over the weekend after pretending to own a 2003 Mercedes C23 at the Casa Madrona Hotel and Spa in Sausalito, and driving it around the block without permission.

Edward Emil Boracchia, 29, of Tam Valley, was arrested Sunday at 12:15 a.m. and charged with possession of narcotics and taking a vehicle without the consent of the owners. 

He was booked into Marin County Jail and his bail was set at $25,000. Boracchia is scheduled to appear in court on May 30 at 9 a.m. for a status report.

Boracchia is accused of telling an employee at the hotel that he owned a Mercedes in the parking lot. The employee handed over the keys, and he drove off, returning a few minutes later as the real owners of the car – a married couple from San Francisco – were on their way to pick it up, said Sausalito police Sgt. Bill Fraass.

Boracchia allegedly gave the keys to the couple and they, thinking he was a valet, tried to tip him.

“He declined the tip, and then left,” Fraass said. Police received a call from the hotel, and found the suspect a couple blocks away at the corner of Johnson and Caledonia streets.

Officers also found four codeine pills in his possession. The Marin IJ reports "in August 2012 Boracchia pleaded to felony drug possession and a public intoxication charge was dismissed, according to the district attorney's office. In January he was granted an extension to complete a drug education program, but but during a status hearing last week, the prosecution reported that he had failed a drug test."

Fraass said it’s not unheard of for cars to be stolen from a hotel parking lot, but they’re usually found abandoned somewhere.

“Not returned,” he said, “to the spot they were taken from.”

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