{"id":13738,"date":"2026-07-22T17:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13738"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:06:32","slug":"sausalito-city-manager-charged-with-prowling-theft-after-arrest-on-strangers-yacht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13738","title":{"rendered":"Sausalito city manager charged with prowling, theft after arrest on stranger&#8217;s yacht"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/68fdbb0\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/1091x802+0+0\/resize\/1091x802!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F61%2F04%2F6fc5f5604d80a9f9b8a6000ae551%2Fme-elaine-forbes-arrested-burglary.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>Sausalito\u2019s recently hired city manager has been charged with four misdemeanors after she was<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2026-07-19\/sausalito-official-reportedly-found-on-yacht-arrested-alleged-burglary\"> found lurking inside a yacht<\/a> that didn\u2019t belong to her in a bizarre incident that has generated widespread intrigue in the wealthy coastal city. <\/p>\n<p>Elaine Forbes, 53, was charged Tuesday with one count of prowling on private property, two counts of lodging without an owner\u2019s consent and one count of petty theft, according to Marin County Superior Court records. <\/p>\n<p>Forbes began her position running the city this month, was placed on a leave of absence during Thursday\u2019s City Council meeting and arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor, according to jail records.<\/p>\n<p>She made an initial court appearance Tuesday, when her arraignment was pushed to Wednesday at the request of her attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The public official is accused of lodging without permission on two docked yachts that did not belong to her. A spokesperson for her family said that Forbes was experiencing a mental health crisis and asked that no one rush to judgment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the facts become clearer and Elaine obtains legal and healthcare counsel in the coming hours and days, we hope people will respond with compassion, patience and respect for her and her family during an extraordinarily difficult time,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Deputies with the Marin County Sheriff\u2019s Office found Forbes inside a 66-foot, three-story yacht that did not belong to her, along with multiple empty alcohol bottles, according to the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/forbes-city-manager-yacht-incident-charges-22353081.php\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>. She allegedly appeared to be using the controls as if she was trying to steal the boat.<\/p>\n<p>Sausalito City Council met in closed session Tuesday evening to discuss Forbes but made no decisions regarding her employment. She remains on a leave of absence while the council evaluates all of the facts surrounding the incident, Sausalito Mayor Steven Woodside said in a Tuesday evening statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on public statements that have been made by her family and representatives, our thoughts are with Elaine and her family right now,\u201d Woodside said. \u201cTonight, I am asking everyone for patience and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The council is in discussions with former City Manager Chris Zapata to return in a temporary role as soon as possible. Zapata currently serves as assistant county executive for Marin County\u2019s Community and Environmental Group, and the council is negotiating with the county to loan his services.<\/p>\n<p>Sausalito\u2019s City Council voted unanimously on May 5 to hire Forbes, setting her base salary at $275,000 and her start date as July 1. At the time Vice Mayor Melissa Blaustein said the city was \u201cso lucky\u201d to have someone of Forbes\u2019 \u201ccaliber, experience, connections, network, and also kind personality and demeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to joining the city, Forbes served as director of the San Francisco Port from 2016 to 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am honored to be coming home to Marin,\u201d Forbes said in a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXunvk1ke3W\/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> at the time. \u201cI am excited to get to work supporting the city\u2019s long-term fiscal sustainability, preparing for sea level rise, and building a strong organization that delivers exceptional service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement shared with <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kron4.com\/news\/bay-area\/sausalito-city-manager-charged-with-prowling-apologizes-for-yacht-incident\/\" target=\"_blank\">local media outlets<\/a> Tuesday, the family spokesperson said Forbes \u201cregrets and apologizes for any and all behavior she exhibited during her personal mental health crisis.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson said she owns a houseboat near the boats she boarded in Sausalito and, not being of sound mind, believed she was on a vessel she owned. <\/p>\n<p><i>Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sausalito\u2019s recently hired city manager has been charged with four misdemeanors after she was found lurking inside a yacht that didn\u2019t belong to her in a bizarre incident that has generated widespread intrigue in the wealthy coastal city. Elaine Forbes, 53, was charged Tuesday with one count of prowling on private property, two counts of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/76d1d23\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1091x573+0+115\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F61%2F04%2F6fc5f5604d80a9f9b8a6000ae551%2Fme-elaine-forbes-arrested-burglary.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}