A Palmdale man was arrested on suspicion of evading law enforcement Thursday evening, following an hour-long police pursuit that wound through Saugus and Valencia and ended up rolling toward Val Verde with tires shredded by spike strips thrown down to stop him.
Luis Manuel Martinez, 36, was arrested on suspicion of evading peace officers with a disregard for safety, a felony. The arrest report listed his occupation as a mechanic.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested Martinez at 6:37 p.m. Thursday, at the end of a televised police pursuit.
No shots were fired as the motorist stopped on Wolcott Road, as CHP officers positioned themselves to carry out a fender-tapping Pursuit Intervention Technique, or PIT maneuver, which they ended up not using. The PIT maneuver is when a law enforcement officer uses a patrol vehicle to collide with a moving car in order to force the other vehicle to stop.
Officers responded to reports of a stolen silver-colored Ford Mustang on Bouquet Canyon Road, around 6 p.m.
Shortly after receiving the report, responding officers reported seeing something being tossed from the car.
The stolen car was followed to Newhall Ranch Road, near Rye Canyon Road, and then westbound along Highway 126.
As the pursued motorist headed for the Ventura County line, he made a U-turn and drove east on Highway 126 to Wolcott, less than a half-mile from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
Once on Wolcott, CHP officers in at least three vehicles closed in on the slow-moving car.
When the motorist got out of the car, he put his hands over his head, walked slowly toward gun-pointing officers, then laid face down on the roadway.
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