Teens Arrested Following Pair Of North Bay Stolen Car Chases
PETALUMA (CBS SF) - Two Petaluma teens allegedly unlawfully took two vehicles and led police from Sonoma and Marin counties on chases late Friday night, a California Highway Patrol officer said Monday afternoon.
The 16-year-old boys allegedly stole a Dodge Charger from a Petaluma address earlier Friday, CHP Officer Eric Hohmeister said.
The teens then drove in the Dodge with two acquaintances, 18-year-old Monique Ellen and 24-year-old Edgar Figueroa, both of Petaluma, at a high rate of speed north on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road near the Nicasio Reservoir around 11 p.m., Hohmeister said.
A Marin County sheriff's deputy tried to stop the speeding Dodge but slowed down for safety reasons, Hohmeister said. The deputy then saw the Dodge collide with a dirt embankment at the intersection of San Antonio Road and D Street.
Ellen and Figueroa were located on San Antonio Road, Hohmeister said. Both were determined to be occupants of the Dodge and they were turned over to the sheriff's office for questioning, Hohmeister said.
Ellen and Figueroa said they did not know the Dodge had been stolen and they were intending to go to Petaluma, Hohmeister said.
A Marin County CHP sergeant searching on San Antonio Road for the driver and the other occupant of the Dodge stopped a 2005 Chevrolet pickup that drove through a stop sign around 11:20 p.m., Hohmeister said.
As the CHP officer approached the pickup, it sped off on northbound San Antonio Road, crossed the southbound lanes of traffic and continued north on U.S. Highway 101, Hohmeister said.
The pickup reached speeds of 90 mph in light traffic and used both lanes of the highway to evade the CHP sergeant, Hohmeister said.
The Sonoma County CHP and Sonoma County Sheriff's Office then pursued the Chevrolet pickup when it left Marin County, Hohmeister said.
Sonoma County sheriff's deputies laid spike strips on the highway near the Wilfred Avenue onramp, damaging all four wheels of the pickup, Hohmeister said.
A Sonoma County CHP officer used the push bumpers of a patrol car to cause the slowed pickup to spin backwards out of control, Hohmeister said.
The pickup driver and his passenger were identified as the same teens who evaded the Marin County sheriff's deputy in the Dodge, Hohmeister said.
After the Dodge collided, the teens fled to a nearby residence and found the Chevrolet pickup with the keys inside, Hohmeister said. Both vehicles had not been reported stolen, Hohmeister said.
Both teens were arrested and taken to Novato Community Hospital for medical clearance before they were booked into Sonoma County juvenile hall for evading police via reckless driving, unlawfully taking and driving a vehicle and possession of stolen property, Hohmeister said.
The driver also was arrested for driving without a license and being a minor driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.01 percent or above, Hohmeister said.
The driver, however, was not intoxicated at the scene, Hohmeister said.
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