California Highway Patrol officers arrested a man on suspicion of DUI who was then also arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen car, law enforcement officials said Monday.
CHP officers with the Newhall-Area Office tried to perform a traffic stop on a 22-year-old Newhall man, who was driving on Newhall Avenue, west of Highway 14, around 2:20 a.m. Sunday.
The vehicle rapidly accelerated away from the patrol vehicle, according to an email from Josh Greengard, spokesman for the CHP Newhall-Area Office. While trying to negotiate the curve in the road as Newhall Avenue transitions to Railroad Avenue, the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle he was driving, a 1999 white Chevy Silverado.
The truck overturned, damaged approximately 40 feet of chain-link fence and took down some small trees, according to Greengard. Medical personnel with the Los Angeles County Fire Department treated the driver at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital for a head laceration he sustained during the crash. It was later determined he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, according to officers who responded to the report. He was ultimately taken into custody without further incident.
While he was booked at the Sheriff’s Station on suspicion of the DUI and for recklessly trying to evade a police officer, deputies received a call from the owner of the truck that was involved in the crash, who reported the vehicle stolen.
Station deputies then re-arrested Flores on the additional charge upon learning the truck had been reported stolen.
