Novato police arrest vandalism suspect after racial incident

Novato police arrested a man suspected of vandalizing a car in a “racially motivated” incident at the Novato Fair Shopping Center.

The victim, a Black woman, told police that shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday she was sitting in her car when a man “directed a racial slur at her” and spat on her hood as he walked by, said police Lt. Sophia Winter.

The woman drove after the man to ask why he spat on her car, and he “continued to verbally assault the victim and used racial slurs against her,” Winter said. He also kicked her car door twice, “causing moderate damage,” she said.

The man left the shopping center on foot and a witness called police. About two hours later, police found a suspect at Diablo Avenue and George Street near the shopping center, Winter said.

The suspect had “drug paraphernalia and was heavily intoxicated at the time of his arrest,” Winter said. She said police “determined this incident was racially motivated” and “an unprovoked attack.”

Robert Lynn Thorne III, 39, of Petaluma was arrested on suspicion of a felony hate crime and several misdemeanors and booked into the Marin County Jail. He remained there Monday in lieu of $50,000 bail. He is White, according to his booking information.

“Hate crimes are not only an attack on the victims they target, they are also an attack on our entire community,” police Chief Beth Johnson said in a prepared statement. “We take reports of this nature very seriously. The safety and wellbeing of our community members is our top priority.”

The department asked anyone with information for the investigation to call 415-897-4361 and reference case No. NP22-3788.