Sep 25, 2008 8:04 am US/Pacific
Fairfield Auto Theft Prompts Police Chase To SF
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
A high-speed chase starting with an auto theft in Fairfield early Thursday morning ended when the suspect was taken into custody in San Francisco, according to the California Highway Patrol and Fairfield Police Department.
The suspect, who was involved in a group of suspects breaking into a car in Fairfield, got onto westbound Interstate Highway 80 at about 3:30 a.m. and continued onto southbound U.S. Highway 101 and southbound Interstate Highway 280, CHP Sgt. Trent Cross said.
The chase finally ended in San Francisco when the suspect got off the freeway and crashed near the intersection of Sagamore Street and Orizaba Avenue, according to the CHP.
A CHP vehicle was also involved in a collision with a tree near the intersection, Cross said.
The chain of events leading to the chase initially started in Fairfield at about 2:50 a.m. when Fairfield police received reports of suspects trying to break into a vehicle.
According to police, two suspects broke into the vehicle and began to drive off as officers arrived at the scene. A short chase took place until the suspect vehicle collided with the curb near the intersection of Heather Drive and Atlantic Avenue.
The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old San Francisco man named Jorge Martinez, was arrested for stealing a vehicle, possession of stolen property, conspiracy, felony evading police and false identification.
A suspect in the passenger seat of the stolen vehicle fled and has not been located, police said.
However, the initial report to police also described a small, black sports utility vehicle that was waiting while the suspects stole the other vehicle.
Police officers spotted the black sports utility vehicle driving slowly in the area with its lights off at about 3:25 a.m., and when police attempted to stop the suspect vehicle, it sped off toward Air Base Parkway and then onto Highway 80.
The suspect vehicle initially went the wrong way on the freeway before turning around and going west on Highway 80.
Fairfield police turned the pursuit over to the CHP, which caught up to the pursuit in Vallejo and continued it until the collisions happened in San Francisco.
No information is available yet on the extent of the injuries of the CHP officer or the suspect.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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