Pre-Dawn Pursuit Wends Its Way Through 24/680, Lamorinda, Ends In Canyon

File Photo

A seemingly innocuous contact with police turned into a high-speed Thunder Run through the 24/680 early Sunday, picking up officers from Lafayette and Moraga before ending near the Upper San Leandro Reservoir in Canyon.

Lafayette Police Chief Ben Alldritt said his officers attempted to stop the vehicle, a 2006 750 series BMW, due to its high rate of speed.  The driver sped away, taking officers away from Lafayette, up the 680 to Martinez and back again into Lafayette, according to police.  From there, as we have reported, the pursuit the went into Moraga, up Canyon, and to the San Leandro Reservoir.

It was near the reservoir that the vehicle yielded, Alldritt said Sunday, and it appears the driver likely fled into the woods.  Two passengers were detained.  LPD towed the vehicle for evidence and will be doing a full forensic processing of the vehicle.  The investigation is ongoing, according to the chief.

At this point there is nothing to indicate why the BMW’s driver led officers on a circuitous tour of the 24/680’s major highways before exiting the freeway in Lafayette and taking to surface streets – running through Moraga at speeds estimated at 70mph.

A search for the driver was made with a canine search team and a CHP helicopter providing overwatch but that person was not located, according to police.

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12 Comments

  1. Danielle on Jan 20, 2019 at 7:45 am

    Did these men have felony warrants? Just a guess…

    • NEWS24-680 on Jan 20, 2019 at 8:13 am

      Unknown at this point, Danielle, though we’re asking.

  2. Mike Dudek on Jan 20, 2019 at 11:52 am

    Wondered what the chopper was doing up at that hour.

  3. Greg T on Jan 20, 2019 at 12:32 pm

    Gee…..y’all are beginning to sound like me!
    ( and yeah, ‘bet you anything these are just another bunch of criminals running around on the loose thanks to our kind ‘judicial’ system)

  4. Sabrina Waverly on Jan 20, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    Did they go down Pleasant Hill road??? Thought I heard sirens around 2 last night. Got a flash at 6?

    • NEWS24-680 on Jan 20, 2019 at 5:56 pm

      Believe so, Sabrina… and the timing of the Flash Alerts sounds about right.

  5. Barbara Windsor on Jan 20, 2019 at 5:42 pm

    Thanks for those flashes. We heard this come – go – and come back again! We had no idea what was happening until our phone started to go off.

    • NEWS24-680 on Jan 20, 2019 at 5:58 pm

      Had a number of folks write about how the sound was bouncing around last night. Hopefully, The Flash provided the necessary insight.

  6. Sandra Kallander on Jan 27, 2019 at 10:20 am

    “Pre-Dawn Pursuit Wends It’s Way” — the way I remember when to apostrophe (I just verbed a noun!) “its” is that, it’s only “it’s” when “it is.” If it isn’t hi’s, her’s, their’s, our’s, or your’s, then it isn’t it’s, either.
    There’s a rare Cousin It exception, when it would be correct to say, “It’s hair covers It’s face, and it’s hard to see who it is.” But it’s rare, and you have to be old enough to know who It is for it to make any sense.

    • NEWS24-680 on Jan 27, 2019 at 11:06 am

      Quite correct and great eye, Sandra! Curse you, Autofil!

      • Sandra Kallander on Jan 27, 2019 at 11:27 am

        I only noticed because it’s one of those things I have to double-check when I’m writing, myself. My eye trips over apostrophes, sometimes. I always turn off auto-correct, especially since it changed a costume designer’s name from “Chiate” to “chit,” in a movie contract. Don’t trust a computer!

        • NEWS24-680 on Jan 27, 2019 at 11:41 am

          We totally understand. It can be a nightmare. Now, excuse us, we have to inititiate a disciplinary flagellation and we need to pick a suitable intern…

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