A letter carrier from the Belvedere-Tiburon post office was sentenced to 90 days in jail for leading police on a 100-mph chase on his motorcycle before crashing into a car on Tiburon Boulevard and trying to run away.
Robert Khothavong, 27, of San Pablo pleaded guilty to evading a peace officer, hit-and-run resulting in injury, resisting arrest, driving without a valid license and failing to provide proof of valid insurance, said Deputy District Attorney Tom Brown.
The chase occurred on March 10, when Tiburon police Officer Gunnar Googins was stopped at an intersection and saw Khothavong "pop a wheelie" on Tiburon Boulevard. When Googins followed the motorcycle and prepared to stop Khothavong for the vehicle violation,
Khothavong saw him and raced away toward Highway 101.
Seconds later, Khothavong struck a car crossing onto North Knoll Road, flipped over the handlebars, rolled over the car's trunk and landed in the street. He got up and tried to run, but Googins chased him down.
Khothavong was treated at Marin General Hospital for a minor leg injury and booked into jail. Tiburon police Chief Michael Cronin said Khothavong was lucky he was not killed.
"If he had gotten to that intersection a millisecond earlier, he probably would've went over the handlebars and into the car," Cronin said.
Khothavong is scheduled to turn himself in next month to begin his sentence. Judge Paul Haakenson also sentenced him to two years of probation, said Deputy
District Attorney Geoff Iida.
Khothavong is still employed at the post office, where he has worked since 2006.
"He's a prince of a guy," said his defense attorney, Jon Rankin. "He only had 10 bad minutes in his whole life."
