The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office is charging an Acton parolee with a vehicle code violation after Sheriff’s Department detectives reported he fled from them and then was tracked down to a Temecula Motel 6 where he allegedly was found with a firearm one week later.
Brandon Gonzalez, 31, was seen driving erratically in a black Mercedes Benz in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 on Oct. 20, according to an email from Natalie Arriaga, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
“Deputies believed the driver to possibly be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” Arriaga wrote Tuesday. “Deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop; however, the suspect proceeded to flee.”
Deputies went in pursuit of a reckless DUI suspect vehicle along Highway 14 and Newhall Avenue, she added. “During the pursuit, deputies lost (sight) of the suspect vehicle and canceled the pursuit.”
Deputies found the vehicle shortly after the pursuit in Canyon Country, where it had been abandoned near the intersection of Golden Valley and Lost Canyon roads, Arriaga wrote.
However, deputies believe the suspect got into a white Chevy Silverado and fled the scene, according to court records obtained by The Signal.
Detectives with the station’s gang unit, known as Career Offenders, Burglary, Robbery, Assault Team, or COBRA, found out where the suspect was staying at a Motel 6 in Temecula, Arriaga said, adding the team worked with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 8, when he was arrested, allegedly in possession of a firearm while on parole.
Gonzalez was released from custody Dec. 17 on a bond, according to Sheriff’s Department arrest records available online.
The COBRA Team presented a reckless evading charge to the District Attorney’s Office, according to Sheriff’s Station officials.
Gonzalez’s previous conviction was for an assault with a deadly weapon charge, to wit, a firearm, according to Arriaga.
Los Angeles County Superior Court records indicate Gonzalez is due back at the San Fernando Courthouse for a preliminary hearing setting on Feb. 22.
