Sausalito city manager expected to be charged with misdemeanors after alleged yacht break-ins

SAUSALITO, Calif. (KGO) -- Sausalito City Manager Elaine Forbes is expected to make her first court appearance Tuesday after authorities accused her of breaking into multiple yachts over the weekend and causing damage.

The Marin County District Attorney's Office said Forbes remained in jail ahead of her arraignment Tuesday.

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Prosecutors said they planned to file four misdemeanor charges against Forbes: one count of prowling, two counts of disorderly conduct for lodging without consent and one count of petty theft.

The charges stem from Forbes' arrest early Saturday. Authorities said she broke into at least two yachts, damaging one of them. Investigators also accused her of breaking into a 66-foot vessel called the Lisa Marie and attempting to steal it before she was arrested.

One yacht owner, Andy Cunningham, described the condition of his boat following the alleged break-in.

"I came down here, police met me at the boat, we discovered unbelievable chaos on my boat," Cunningham said. "She took all my clothes and tried them on they were inside out. There was a jar of marchino cherries she dumped into a shoebox," Cunningham said. "She had drunk a lot of alcohol on the boat, about four bottles of our wine."

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The Marin County Sheriff's Department said a missing person report had been filed for Forbes on Friday, hours before her arrest.

The Sausalito City Council approved a leave of absence for Forbes on Thursday. She had been in the position for three weeks.

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Family spokesperson Sam Singer said Forbes has been going through a divorce from her longtime partner. The spokesperson said she was living on a houseboat near the area where the arrest occurred and may have believed she was on her own boat.

Here's a statement from Singer issued Tuesday:

Elaine Forbes remains in custody by her own desire and the wishes of her family and legal counsel. She is experiencing a mental health crisis and the best, safest place for her to be is in custody and then, hopefully, a mental healthcare facility.
Ms. Forbes owns a houseboat in the vicinity of the boats she boarded in Sausalito. She was obviously not of sound mind and believed that she was on a vessel she owned. I am sure she regrets and apologizes for any and all behavior she exhibited during her personal mental health crisis.

The city of Sausalito said its thoughts are with Forbes. She remains on a leave of absence, and the City Council is scheduled to discuss her position Tuesday afternoon.