Our Flash subscribers and Facebook followers got most of this as it was happening last night but CHP Contra Costa has updated last night’s pursuit and eventual capture in Walnut Creek:
From CHP Contra Costa
Last night at about 8:25pm, a Contra Costa CHP unit observed a Silver 2005 Toyota Corolla at a high rate of speed on SR-242 southbound headed towards Concord. The CHP Unit began making an enforcement stop but the vehicle sped up and fled from the officer.
The CHP Unit began pursuing the Toyota on SR-242 to southbound I-680, with speeds reaching 100mph. Then the Toyota stopped at the North Main Street offramp, parked his vehicle, leaving his female passenger inside, and ran across the highway towards North Main Street. The CHP Unit stopped at the Toyota and detained the female passenger, who identified the male suspect driver and indicated the direction the suspect fled. (She was interviewed and later released).
The suspect was seen running into the CAL-TRANS maintenance yard on North Main Street so CHP units and local police agencies formed a perimeter to close in on the suspect. As they were doing so, a CHP-K9 Unit and a CHP AIR-OPS helicopter were dispatched to the scene. The CHP helicopter circled overhead with infrared and heat scanning abilities, located a possible spot in the bushes where the suspected appeared to be hunkered down, and they related that info to the ground units and the CHP-K9 Officer.
The CHP-K9 Officer approached the large set of bushes and gave multiple warnings to the suspect to surrender and come out, but to no avail. The suspect remained hidden and non-cooperative.
The CHP-K9 Officer then successfully deployed his K9 into the bushes and used force (Bite) to subdue the suspect and take him into custody. The suspect was identified as Erik Salgado, 21.
He (Salgado) received injuries from the K9 bite and was transported to County Costa Regional Hospital for treatment of his wounds, where he still remains under CHP watch.
Salgado is being charged with FELONY EVADING POLICE at excessive speeds, possession of drugs, and violations of his parole (ACTIVE WARRANT).
Thankfully no officers or innocent victims were injured in this incident. A little message of advice:
Don’t speed.
Don’t flee from Law Enforcement ever, especially at excessive speeds.
Don’t remain non-compliant when a trained K9 and helicopter have successfully located you and you still fail to comply,…Because the K9 will always have the last say..or bite.
Thank you for the excellent reporting.
@MJ – Thank YOU for reading us!
Memo to self: if on drugs and trying to dodge an active warrant, drive the speed limit.
@Chris – It is the recommended course of action.
It’s always a revelation just how wild and crazy people high on drugs with outstanding warrants will behave. It’s as though they are not processing the data correctly. It reminds me of others in the news lately, those being pursued who have taken on recent debt on the order of a half a BILLION dollars using positions of prominent authority in government to make a private deal. Ha Ha Ha. Yeah, no will notice that. It’s all good!