Tuesday, 05 June 2007 01:58

High Speed Chase Across County Lines Leads To The Arrests Of Four

slide9Late Sunday night, at approximately 10:58 PM, Jackson Officer Troy Ortega was on routine patrol while traveling south on Highway 49 near Jackson Glass, when he noticed a vehicle traveling too close behind his patrol car. Officer Ortega changed lanes, at which point the other vehicle also changed lanes and continued to follow Officer Ortega's patrol car too close. Officer Ortega then waited until he could pull to the roadway shoulder and allow the vehicle to pass. Once the vehicle passed Officer Ortega's vehicle, Officer Ortega initiated a traffic stop. At this point the vehicle was proximate to the Jackson Creek Plaza, where Officer Ortega activated his overhead lights. The violator vehicle, however did not pull over.

Officer Ortega then sounded his siren but the vehicle would still not yield. Once the violator vehicle reached the south city limits area, it sped up to speed in excess of 80 mph and at times to 100 mph. Officer Ortega radioed to Amador County Sheriff's Dispatch that he was in pursuit. Patrol units from the Amador County Sheriff's Office responded to assist as well as units from the CHP. Once the pursuit entered Calaveras County, the CHP was requested to take over the pursuit, with Calaveras County Sheriff's Deputies to assist as well. During the pursuit Officer Ortega warned other officers that the suspect was using the opposing lanes while driving through the curves from Amador County to Calaveras County. Once the pursuit neared the intersection of Highway 49 and  Highway 12 outside San Andreas, the suspect came to a sudden stop.

The suspects were removed from the suspect vehicle at gunpoint and placed into custody without incident. No other motorists or other persons were injured during the pursuit. Since the California Highway Patrol was requested to take charge of the pursuit, their officers made the associated arrests and booked the suspects on the respective charges. Arrested was the Suspected Driver: Tina Marie Lobue – age 26- a Hispanic Female adult, - Out of Sacramento – She is charged with Evading a Peace Officer, DUI and Driving on a Suspended License. Passenger: Tony Ximenez -  37 years old- Hispanic Male Adult, out of Sacramento - Charges unknown at Press Time.

Passenger: Dustin Cook - White Male Adult, age unknown, a"Transient out of Sacramento – Charges Unknown at Press Time. Also arrested was a Passenger: a Juvenile Female Passenger Possible runaway. All three adults were booked into the Calaveras County Jail.