San Rafael Attorney Arrested on Child Cruelty Charges After Fleeing Police

A San Rafael attorney was arrested Sept. 7 after she ignored San Rafael police orders and erratically fled with her eight-year-old son in a car with a flat tire. 

What began as two parties exchanging information after a minor traffic accident ended with Rebecca Ann McGuire, 45, getting booked into Marin County Jail on charges that include willfull cruelty to a child, disobedience to an officer and resisting a public officer, according to San Rafael Police spokesperson Margo Rohrbacher.

McGuire, a San Rafael resident who listed her occupation as "attorney" in the booking log, pulled into the on Ritter Street after a minor traffic accident around 4 p.m. last Friday. A San Rafael Police officer responded to the scene to help with the drivers’ information exchange. 

McGuire’s silver 2012 Prius had a damaged front right fender and a flat tire, but she began to insist she had to leave and pick up her other child. “The officer told her she couldn’t drive her car because it isn’t safe,” Rohrbacher said. “The rim had a big dent in it and was not driveable." 

McGuire became distraught, pulled her son “violently” out of the car and began walking down Second Street, according to Rohrbacher. “[The boy] was crying, stumbling and running to catch up with her. It didn’t look very good.”

Shortly after, McGuire returned with the boy, got back into the car, turned the ignition key and began driving away, Rohrbacher said.

The officer was yelling at McGuire to stop and smacking the driver’s window. “She wouldn’t stop,” she said.

Instead, McGuire sped up, drove over a raised concrete island between two gas pumps and pulled onto Second Street, where a car had to slam on its brakes to avoid hitting her. 

“She caused one of a number of very close collisions and was driving extremely erratically,” Rohrbacher said. 

The officer tried to catch her, but lost sight of her in heavy traffic. Officers later located McGuire at her Gerstle Park home with her two children. “The children were placed with a family friend and she was taken to jail,” Rohrbacher said.

McGuire was booked into the Marin County Jail in lieu of more than $50,000 bail. Her arraignment is set for Sept. 26 in Marin County Superior Court. 

According to the State Bar of California, McGuire works in criminal law and studied law at UC Berekeley. Her office is listed as 1000 5th Ave., Suite 11, in San Rafael.