The latest in a string of high-speed, high-profile and potentially violent encounters between local police and the people hoping to elude them played out overnight on Highway 680, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said its officers in Solano County initiated a pursuit of a silver Dodge Charger about 12:12 a.m. Tuesday, following as the car accelerated to speeds in excess of 130 mph as it travelled from eastbound I-80 to southbound I-680 – where units from the Contra Costa CHP office and CHP helicopter H-30 picked up the pursuit.
A CHP spokesman said the Charger was partially incapacitated when Solano units deployed a spike strip near Marshview Road but continued on down I-680 at speeds between 60 and 100 mph before veering suddenly to the left and colliding with a dividing wall south of Livorna Road.
Officers said the Charger careened into the Number 2 lane of the highway and came to rest. CHP officers, with the assistance of a Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputy and his police K-9 arrested the driver, Ricky Wheeler, Jr., 34, of San Mateo and the passenger, Jermaine Crumb, Jr., 36, also of San Mateo, without incident.
Numerous guns and ammunition were allegedly located within the vehicle, according to the CHP. Both suspects had extensive criminal histories and the driver also had a no bail warrant for unspecified charges. Both previously convicted felons were booked at the Martinez Detention Facility for multiple gun related violations as well as the failure to yield. The Dodge Charger had been rented from Hertz Rent A Car.
I’ll bet Hertz isn’t going to be happy about how their car was used.
Too bad it wasn’t Alamo. I hate Alamo. I wanted to extend my rental once with them on the phone (Oakland Airport) and they tried to rewrite the whole contract charging me more for days that were already in the past. For them a signed contract apparently is not a contract. I returned it and got an Enterprise car.