Jury convicts man who hurled pipe bombs during chase that began at SF church

By Bay City News

A Concord man who tossed pipe bombs at police during a chaotic chase last year from San Francisco to the East Bay was convicted of several charges that include detonating explosives, prosecutors said Thursday.

The Oct. 29 chase started after a scuffle at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, where Daniel Garcia, 42, punched a parishioner during a mass service and knocked him unconscious, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

Garcia fled the church as police responded and refused commands to pull over. Instead he slowed down and lobbed a pipe bomb strapped to a 40-ounce bottle of gasoline out of his window and sped away as the bomb exploded, engulfing a police vehicle in a fireball, prosecutors said.

Police chased Garcia as he drove through San Francisco toward the Bay Bridge, ignoring stop signs and red lights along the way, and driving on road shoulders.

At Eighth and Mission streets, authorities said Garcia threw a second pipe bomb, which also exploded. The pursuit went onto the Bay Bridge and into the East Bay, eventually including three San Francisco police vehicles, three California Highway Patrol vehicles and a helicopter.

Garcia failed to navigate a turn in Martinez and blew out his tire, but continued driving until the wheel fell off -- at which point he finally pulled over and surrendered.

Authorities found a third pipe bomb strapped to a 40-ounce bottle of gasoline in his vehicle. "Garcia said he was trying to get home to Concord to barricade himself inside with the last bomb and quipped to the officers 'How many GTA stars do you think I had?' which is a reference to the video game Grand Theft Auto where you earn stars based on your threat level and how many police officers are chasing you," according to a release from District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

After he surrendered, a search of his Concord home turned up the materials used to make the pipe bombs and four additional 40-ounce bottles filled with gasoline. He admitted on the stand he had built the three bombs in his home the three days prior to using them in San Francisco, the district attorney's office said.

Garcia was convicted of three counts of detonating an explosive device with intent to injure, four counts of possession of an explosive device and one count of evading an officer with willful disregard for people or property.

He faces up to 14 years years in state prison and is due to be sentenced on April 23.

"Mr. Garcia time and again placed civilians and law enforcement in danger by choosing to construct dangerous explosive devices, transport them to San Francisco, and then explode them on city streets, not to mention assaulting an innocent man while he prayed in church," said Assistant District Attorney Edward Mario. "Mr. Garcia has shown no remorse for his actions but the jury's verdict ensures that he will face accountability for his unprompted violent and reckless behavior."

The court will also hear and rule on an allegation that the chase occurred while Garcia was on bail for another felony in another county.

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