❒ Police: After chase to Treasure Island, Duncan Phillips shot himself

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

A man sought by Benicia police in the Thanksgiving Day armed robbery of one woman and theft of another women’s car died early Tuesday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot after a lengthy standoff on Treasure Island, San Francisco police said.

Duncan Phillips, 29, had been the subject of a Benicia police search after he was suspected of attacking and robbing a 52-year-old woman at her apartment on the 900 block of Southampton Road, Lt. Frank Hartig said.

After striking the victim with a semi-automatic handgun, the man took her purse and its contents, her cell phone and some jewelry, police said.

The suspect fled with a woman in a 2004 red Ford Taurus. That 30-year-old woman, who knew the robbery victim and had dated the suspect, later reported her car stolen at West Second Street and Raymond Drive, Hartig said.

Because Phillips had ties to several California cities, Benicia police notified law enforcement officers in San Francisco, Oakland and Chico. They issued a multiple-agency alert about the robbery and entered the car’s information into the stolen vehicle reporting system, Hartig said.

Benicia detectives obtained a $230,000 Solano County warrant Monday for Phillips, Hartig said. The document accused him of robbery, burglary assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking and attempted robbery.

San Francisco police received a report late Monday about an armed man in a stolen car, Public Information Officer Albie Esparza said Tuesday.

Patrol officers spotted the suspect driving the stolen car about 11 p.m. Monday on Bush Street near its intersection with Mason Street in San Francisco, Esparza said.

Hartig said he had few details about that incident, but was told the license plate number matched that of the stolen Taurus.

San Francisco officers initiated a pursuit when the driver refused to pull over and began running red lights, Esparza said.

The chase continued east on Interstate 80 to Treasure Island, where the man abandoned the car, displayed his weapon and threatening to commit suicide, Esparza said.

Police called a crisis negotiator to the site, and as a preventive measure the United States Coast Guard also was notified, Esparza said.

The standoff continued for several hours, he said.

“Just before 5 a.m., they heard a shot,” he said. He wouldn’t confirm the man’s identity or reports that the man shot himself, referring those questions to the San Francisco City and County Chief Medical Examiner’s office, which did not return calls by press time.

However, medical examiner staff told Hartig that Phillips was the man who had committed suicide after the standoff on Treasure Island. “They said it is our guy,” Hartig said.

The stolen car was towed as evidence, Esparza said. “This is still under investigation,” he said.