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Alleged Boston bombing sympathizer arrested in Calif. carjacking

The Columbian
Published: April 30, 2013, 5:00pm

GREENBRAE, Calif. (AP) — An Oregon man arrested on suspicion of carjacking and kidnapping a man at gunpoint and nearly carjacked a woman during a wild crime spree in Northern California, may also be linked to the death of a woman in Oregon, authorities said Tuesday.

According to police, Jeffrey Boyce, 30, of North Bend, Ore., was arrested Monday night in the Greenbrae area of Marin County. Boyce is also believed to be a Boston bombing sympathizer intent on reaching the Russian consulate in San Francisco to seek asylum, authorities said.

Boyce allegedly carjacked a man’s BMW station wagon at gunpoint in Rohnert Park and forced him to drive to a church around 4:30 p.m. Monday in neighboring Sonoma County, Rohnert Park Police Lt. Jeff Taylor said Tuesday.

Boyce then got out of the car and pulled several rifles from a truck he drove to the parking lot before the carjacking, placing them in the victim’s car. The victim was able to escape, Taylor said.

About two hours later, Boyce then apparently tried a second carjacking, this time a woman’s truck outside a shopping center in the Greenbrae area, police said.

The woman escaped, and Boyce was arrested a short time later, Taylor said.

The attempted carjacking victim, Tina Humphrey of Mill Valley, Calif., told KPIX-TV that she was terrified.

“He opened the door and I was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ and he pulled a gun out of his left pocket and just put it up in my face,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said she was unaware that there was an area manhunt for him. During that time, she tried to calm Boyce by showing him pictures of her children. A passer-by noticed what was occurring and called 911.

Meanwhile, Humphrey continued to talk calmly to Boyce as the authorities were en route.

“When he heard the sirens he said, ‘you shouldn’t have done that.I’m going to take you out.’ And I said, ‘What would that prove?'” Humphrey told the TV station. “He said, ‘I’m going to die anyway.’

“And earlier he said, ‘might as well go out with a bang, right?'”

Boyce tried to flee on foot but was caught by police.

Boyce is believed to be the suspect wanted by Oregon authorities in connection with the death of a woman on Sunday in Douglas County. The woman was killed at Winchester Wayfinding Point, located along Highway 101 about 3 miles south of Reedsport.

In a press release Tuesday, the Oregon State Police said that a suspect whose name has not been released was in custody in California, and that two of its detectives have traveled there to interview the suspect.

Rohnert Park police Sgt. Aaron Johnson said Boyce’s mother told police that her son is mentally ill. Johnson said a truck that Boyce was driving before the carjacking contained more than 200 rounds of assault rifle-style bullets and a loaded .22-caliber rifle.

According to authorities, Boyce’s mother had called in to warn police that he had been raving that the government was out to get him.

“She had indicated that he had talked about the recent bombing in Boston, as well as Colorado, and Columbine,” San Francisco Police Capt. Greg McEachern told KPIX. “She didn’t say he had a history of mental illness, she just said that in the last couple of weeks, he’d become extremely unstable and was ranting about the government, and she was concerned for him.”

Police believed he was heading to the Russian consulate in San Francisco. They say he had indicated that he was sympathetic to the Boston bombers in his ramblings. Police surrounded the consulate as a precaution Monday night.

“We can assume by that that he was probably sympathetic to some of the actions earlier and was going there to seek asylum,” McEachern said.

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