El Cerrito man arrested for allegedly throwing rock at police car

EL CERRITO, Calif. -- A man was arrested for allegedly striking an El Cerrito police officer's patrol vehicle with a large rock Thursday, police said.

Frank Cook Sanders IV, a 30-year-old resident of Richmond and Hercules, is suspected of tossing a rock at an officer's car at 6:40 p.m. Thursday as he traveled northbound on San Pablo Avenue.

Police said the baseball-sized rock left a significant crack in the windshield in front of the steering wheel, but the officer was not hurt.

When the officer initially exited his car to assess the damage, police said he witnessed a suspect run down the driveway of a nearby Big 5 Sporting Goods store.

This led to a foot chase, during which the suspect eluded capture.

After reviewing surveillance footage of the incident and gathering information on the suspect, the officer encountered Sanders at the area's BART station.

Sanders was arrested and booked into Contra Costa County jail on suspicion of assault on an officer, vandalism and probation violation.