Porn princess and alleged credit card forger Jasmine Mitchell is in federal custody after being arrested outside a luxurious Marin County hotel.
Authorities had been looking for the 33-year-old Mitchell for her alleged role in an identity theft ring — a ring that investigators are describing as a “large-scale” operation.
Police say Mitchell had narrowly escaped arrest on April 29 by using the Mercedes she was driving to ram an unmarked police car in the parking lot of a San Pablo apartment complex parking lot.
Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives had gone to the apartment after getting a tip that Mitchell and an alleged accomplice were staying in the apartment.
Though Mitchell managed to escape, two others at the apartment were arrested, including one suspect who had tried to get away by jumping in a taxi in nearby Richmond.
After eluding capture in San Pablo, Sonoma County sheriff’s Lt. Tim Duke says detectives resumed their search for Mitchell by checking upscale Bay Area hotels.
In questioning hotel employees, detectives began closing in on the elusive Mitchell.
After determining that earlier this week Mitchell — using a fake name — had stayed at the Acqua Hotel, a cozy Mill Valley hotel nestled on the shores of Richardson Bay, detectives staked out the nearby Lodge at Tiburon.
When they saw her walking toward the hotel Thursday night they moved in to make the arrest.
Duke says Mitchell was not staying at the lodge, but may have just arrived to check in. She was taken into custody after a brief struggle.
In searching Mitchell’s belongings, Duke says it appears she might have been planning to leave the country:
“When Mitchell was arrested, detectives found in her possession numerous counterfeit credit cards, cash and methamphetamine. Also, there were papers in her purse suggesting that she was preparing to flee the country.”
After her arrest, Mitchell was turned over to the U.S. Secret Service. She is being held in federal custody pending charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and local prosecutors.
Mitchell is the daughter of San Francisco porn king Artie Mitchell, who along with his older brother Jim, operated the notorious Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.
Jasmine Mitchell was also wanted for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer — the Mercedes she used in allegedly ramming a police car to make good her escape in San Pablo.
That allegation adds to a string of violent episodes in the Mitchell family.
Artie Mitchell was shot to death by Jim Mitchell, who is now deceased, in 1991.
Jim served time for the murder, while another Mitchell family member is also serving time on murder charges.
James Mitchell, Jim’s son, is behind bars for beating the mother of his young daughter to death with a baseball bat in 2009.
John Marshall is an SFBay editor and producer and writer for San Francisco’s KGO Radio. Follow him on Twitter@breakingnewsman.
Last modified May 11, 2014 1:33 am
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