Report of Suspicous Person on Vernal Way Leads to Two Arrests

On Thursday, Marin County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of a supsicious person sitting inside a car on Vernal Way found drugs. stolen property and a possible connection to other recent crimes.

Investigating the initial report at 3:44 p.m., deputies found a woman standing outside her blue Honda sedan who stated she was waiting for her boyfriend who was nearby.

Inside the car, deputies found fresh marijuana in several plastic bags, hypodermic syringes, methamphetamine and some items of property previously reported stolen from Old Quarry Road in Larkspur.

Catherine Maxwell, 28, of Corte Madera was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property and three drug-related charges. Bail was set at $10,000.

While deputies continued their investigation of Maxwell, a houseboat owner on Yellow Ferry Dock in Sausalito returned home at 12:33 a.m. and reported that she found a man inside lying on her bed. She told deputies that he fled when he noticed her coming through the door.

Deputies and officers from the Sausalito Police Department began searching the area for the intruder when a man matching the description was detained nearby at the Bait Shop store on Gate Six Road.

Deputies noted that the man they were detaining was soaking wet and had obviously been in the bay. Inside one of his socks they found a debit card belonging to the Yellow Ferry resident. The man was also in possession of a mountain bike determined to have been stolen from a resident of East Pier, deputies tracked the suspect’s path to that location by following his wet footprints.

Joseph De Paoli, 34, San Francisco was arrested and booked into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of burglary, grand theft and receiving stolen property. His bail was set at $50,000.

De Paoli was the subject that Catherine Maxwell identified as being her boyfriend she was waiting for at the time of the Vernal Way arrest, eight hours earlier.

Deputies continued their investigation of De Paoli and his possible connection to other crimes in the Mill Valley area. In the Kappas Marina Lot, close to where De Paoli was found, deputies located a Honda that had been reported stolen to CHP the day before from Tennessee Avenue, where at the time of that report, CHP located a second vehicle reported stolen earlier from Spruce St.

The investigation of these crimes is continuing.

Anyone with information concerning this matter is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 415-499-7233. To remain anonymous and possibly become eligible for a cash reward call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.