Crime & Safety
Trio with Suspected Drunk Driver Lead Cops on '100 mph' Chase, Crash Car
The arrested driver was a Petaluma man, 18. A Sonoma County juvenile and a Rohnert Park male, 20, also in reportedly stolen auto that went into ditch Saturday at 3 a.m.
A suspected drunk driver and two passengers were arrested early this morning after leading police on a chase on state Highway 1 that ended with a crash in Mill Valley, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.
The pursuit started around 3:10 a.m. after CHP officers on northbound U.S. Highway 101 near Sausalito noticed a white Toyota Solara traveling at more than 100 mph, according to CHP spokesman Officer Andrew Barclay.
As the officers tried to catch up to the car they saw the driver take a wide turn and lose control of the car, which shifted sideways before recovering.
At one point the driver slowed down and appeared to yield to the officers but then sped up suddenly and continued north on state Highway 1, Barclay said.
The driver turned a short time later onto Tennessee Valley Road in Mill Valley where he lost control of the car and crashed into a drainage culvert. The driver and two passengers exited the car and ran.
CHP officer used a Taser to detain one of the passengers, identified as 20-year-old Eduardo Morales of Rohnert Park, Barclay said.
Meanwhile, a second officer detained the other passenger, a 15-year-old Sonoma County resident.
Officers also located the driver, identified as 18-year-old Alan Ramirez of Petaluma, and took him into custody.
A search of the crashed car, which had been reported stolen out of San Francisco, turned up substances believed to be cocaine and marijuana, according to the CHP.
All three suspects were taken to a hospital to be medically cleared before being taken to county detention facilities.
Barclay said officers noticed just after the crash that Ramirez appeared to be intoxicated.
He was on suspicion of DUI and a slew of other offenses including driving on a suspended license for DUI, motor vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and evading police while driving recklessly.
Both passengers were arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest and receiving stolen property.
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