Jermaine Grosse, Mental Patient Charged With Taxi Theft: Did He Pick Up Fares?

Jermaine Grosse, impromptu cabbie

​A few more details have come to light regarding Jermaine Grosse, the San Pablo man who followed up an involuntary psychiatric hold in a Martinez hospital by allegedly stealing the cab he was transported home in.

Since Grosse allegedly made off with the cab on Saturday and was only caught Monday, we wondered: Did he try to pick up any fares?

Lieutenant Jim Creekmore of the San Pablo Police Department says probably not. Rather, Grosse told police he spent the weekend instead trying to sell the cab.

"By his statement, he was told by a local auto dismantler that in order to sell the vehicle, he'd have to put it in his own name," says Creekmore. "That's what prompted him to go to the DMV to do just that. And that's when the gig was up."

The San Pablo police had put the purloined cab's license plate on the statewide computer system as a stolen vehicle. So when Grosse on Monday showed up at the El Cerrito DMV, an immediate red flag arose for the woman behind the counter. She phoned the California Highway Patrol, which in turn phoned the San Pablo Police. The San Pablo Police then phoned the El Cerrito Police and told them to please get moving. After all this, Grosse, with allegedly forged papers in hand, was still waiting at the DMV when El Cerrito police arrived; he was caught after a brief foot chase.

Creekmore was unable to disclose Grosse's entire criminal background, but did note he is currently on probation for misdemeanor theft.

Grosse, 26, remains incarcerated at county jail in Martinez, charged with auto theft and forgery.


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