Shots Fired in Beer Theft Sunday at Safeway in Strawberry Village

A security guard in pursuit of two men who stole beer from the Safeway in Strawberry Village early Sunday morning said the suspects fired at least four shots at him from a gold minivan as they fled the scene, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

The men allegedly stole two cases of beer from the Safeway shortly before 3 a.m., Sheriff's Lt. Doug Pittman said. The men ran out of the store as they were approached by store employees and jumped into a gold minivan waiting behind the store on Reed Boulevard, Pittman said.

A Safeway security guard called 911 and reported the incident and then followed the minivan in an attempt to make out the license plate number.

The security guard told Sheriff's deputies that he approached the van on northbound Redwood Highway Frontage Road toward Tiburon Boulevard but then heard 4-5 shots being fired at him from the passenger side, Pittman said.

The security guard feared being shot and backed away but continued to follow as the van ran a red light and fled on to northbound Highway 101, Pittman said.

The van exited the freeway at Paradise Drive in Corte Madera and drove back on southbound Highway 101 before the guard lost sight of it, Pittman said. Sheriff’s deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and police from Mill Valley and Tiburon searched the area to no avail, he said.

The minivan has a California license plate of 4DWZY. Anyone with information about the theft or the suspects should call the Marin County Sheriff's Office at (415) 473-7265, or the multilingual Bay Area Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 222-8477.

--Bay City News Service contributed to this report. Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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