California Highway Patrol officers arrested a Bakersfield man on suspicion of carjacking on Thursday afternoon following a high-speed pursuit that originated in Kern County, according to a spokesman with the CHP.
The suspect was wanted for driving a white Chevrolet pickup truck that the Bakersfield Police Department had reported as stolen when local CHP officers were notified at 12:45 p.m., said Public Information Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez, a spokesman with the Newhall Area office.
The vehicle was located by CHP officers at 1:03 p.m. and a pursuit ensued, he added.
The suspect traveled on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine, and as the suspect fled, the pickup truck’s front tire was destroyed – apparently as a result of a spike strip deployment – and continued to travel on the I-5 only on a rim.
The truck reached speeds of up to 70 mph before it came to a full stop ending the pursuit between Parker Road and Hasley Canyon Road in Castaic, where the suspect was arrested without further incident and taken into custody by 2:25 p.m., according to Burgos-Lopez and televised video footage.
The man, a resident of Bakersfield, according to Burgos-Lopez, faces possible charges such as carjacking, and failure to yield, he added.
No additional information was available as of the publication of this story.