California Highway Patrol officers are investigating an Aug. 8 pursuit that started in Victorville and weaved its way through the Santa Clarita Valley at speeds in excess of 115 mph before coming to a stop in Sylmar, according to court records obtained by The Signal.
CHP officers’ involvement began with Victorville officers on patrol spotting the suspect’s vehicle around 8:45 a.m. on Highway 138, where it was heading west, east of Silver Rock Road.
The officer’s radar indicated the car was going 88 mph, about 30 mph over the limit, according to the investigating officer’s report.
The officer attempted a vehicle stop and the suspect’s car pulled over west of Phelan Road. However, once the officer got out of his vehicle, the driver sped off, as the officer reported seeing the vehicle’s occupants throw several items out of the vehicle, west of Wintergreen Road.
The car reached speeds of 115 mph, according to the officer’s report, which listed several other traffic violations, including following cars too closely, running traffic lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Eventually, the driver entered Highway 14 and began to head south, at which point the pursuing officer was joined by several others. The investigator’s report notes that the original officer in the pursuit had his vehicle accidentally disabled by spike strips.
The suspect then continued south onto Interstate 5 to the Roxford Street exit, where the pursuit also had been joined by a helicopter.
The suspect’s vehicle stopped in a Sylmar neighborhood, and all three suspects ran from the car, which resulted in a temporary evacuation of several homes as CHP officers established a perimeter and searched nearby homes, according to a report from CHP investigators.
Officers reported that three suspects were in the car: one of the men was recently convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and awaiting sentencing; the other suspect had four previous convictions, including two for assault; and the third man was not identified in court records.
The driver and the right rear passenger were detained shortly thereafter, and a third occupant was not, despite assistance from K9 units, according to officers’ statements.
Nearly two hours after the incident, officers returned to the scene where items were seen being thrown from the suspect’s vehicle, and they indicated they found a Bersa Thunder, .380 caliber pistol, listed in their report.
“The pistol had a round chambered and was damaged as if it had been thrown from a car,” according to officers in the report.
Officers are now investigating weapons charges with respect to the convicted felons who were not allowed to possess firearms.
