California Highway Patrol officers are seeking additional evidence for their investigation into a pursuit last month of a 27-year-old Lancaster motorcyclist they say ran from a traffic break after some reckless riding near the Newhall Pass on Highway 14.
The officers had all northbound lanes stopped on Interstate 5 to assist Caltrans employees in completing road repairs around 10:35 a.m. Dec. 17, according to a courthouse statement from a Newhall Area CHP officer who investigated the report.
Not long after the vehicles stopped, an officer south of the traffic break radioed ahead that a man on a silver motorcycle was “driving recklessly and doing wheelies on the freeway,” mentioning multiple alleged vehicle code violations, according to the officer’s report.
“Several moments later the described motorcycle pulled up through traffic and stopped at the front of stopped traffic,” according to the investigator’s statement, which was part of an affidavit requesting footage from a GoPro attached to the motorcyclist’s helmet.
After the work finished minutes later, the officers released traffic and the motorcyclist drove past the patrol vehicle with no license plate visible, which is also a vehicle code violation, according to the CHP officer’s report.
The CHP officers reported at 10:41 a.m. they attempted a traffic stop on the motorcycle near Gavin Canyon. The motorcyclist initially complied with the stop and then sped off at speeds estimated at over 130 mph.
The suspect’s motorcycle turned east on Lyons Avenue and continued to flee at high speeds above 85 mph as it passed Wiley Canyon Road on surface streets, according to officers. They reported calling off the pursuit momentarily due to public-safety concerns and they lost sight of the suspect as he headed south on Peachland Avenue.
They ultimately caught up to him in front of Peachland Elementary School, according to the CHP report.
He declined to make a statement and was then booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station jail, according to officials and custody records available online.
He was released on his own recognizance Dec. 19, according to LASD records.
He pleaded not guilty to one count of evading a police officer with a disregard for safety.
He’s due back in court Jan. 31 for a scheduling hearing.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact the CHP Newhall Area Office at 661-600-1600. If someone prefers to provide information anonymously, they can call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), use a smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google play or the Apple App Store or by using the website lacrimestoppers.org.