Officer Hodgdon continued the pursuit: “We were briefly traveling on West Main Street before the driver took a left turn onto Cameron” and finally stopped the El Camino at the Via del Sol apartment complex.“I found out later that was his wife’s residence” and that the couple is believed to be going through a divorce.Officer Hodgdon arrested Estrada at gunpoint for failure to yield to an officer; a charge of suspicion of driving under the influence was later added when an odor of liquor was detected on Estrada.Santa Paula Police also responded to the scene.Estrada was transported to the Ventura CHP office, then to VCMC for DUI testing before being he was booked into Ventura County Jail.In all, only about 10 minutes elapsed between the initial attempt to stop Estrada and his arrest noted Officer Hodgdon, who has been assigned to the Ventura CHP office for one month.
|
Above, California Highway Patrol Officers escort Michael Ray Estrada, 40, to one of their vehicles for transportation to jail following a high speed pursuit. Santa Paula Senior Officer Jim Fogata (right) checks Estrada’s hat. Below, Officer Jim Fogata and K9 Evan check over the suspects car. |
Pursuit ends in Santa Paula
November 18, 2005
CHP: Santa Paula man arrested at gunpoint after high-speed pursuit
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesA Santa Paula man was arrested at gunpoint Monday after leading a California Highway Patrol officer on a high-speed chase that ended in the city, according to a CHP spokesman.CHP Officer Steve Reid said that incident occurred Nov. 14 shortly after 2 p.m. that ended with the arrest of Michael Ray Estrada, 40 of Santa Paula.CHP Officer Charles Hodgdon was driving eastbound on Highway 126 when just past Wells Road he observed a Chevrolet El Camino enter the freeway.“The driver got on the freeway and shot across the lanes,” almost hitting several cars before scattering four other vehicles as the El Camino straddled the two eastbound lanes while traveling at a high rate of speed, said Officer Hodgdon.“Then the driver moved to the number two lane and accelerated to about 100 mph” before he slowed to around 75 mph, an action Officer Hodgdon believes was prompted by the speeding driver spotting the CHP patrol car.Just west of Briggs Road Officer Hodgdon attempted to get Estrada to pull over but he failed o yield.Instead, Estrada exited the highway at Briggs Road turned right and then right again on West Telegraph Road, heading eastbound towards Santa Paula.
