A Watsonville man was arrested after a car chase on Hwy 101 from Paso Robles to San Luis Obispo that forced the Highway Patrol to blow out his tires and send the car into a spin.
According to a news release from CHP Ofc. Miguel Alvarez, at about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, March 7 CHP dispatch received multiple 9-1-1 calls about a vehicle traveling recklessly southbound on Hwy 1 through Paso Robles. The white Infinity sedan was reportedly swerving all over the roadway with a right front tire that had disintegrated and the car was riding on the rim.
Multiple CHP units responded to the call and the Infinity sedan was spotted on Hwy 101 at the San Anselmo Road turnoff in Atascadero. CHP officers tried to pull the car over but the driver refused to stop and “continued to drive recklessly in an attempt to evade CHP officers,” Ofc. Alvarez said. The chase continued over the Cuesta Grade and into San Luis Obispo where officers brought the matter to a deflating end.
“A successful spike strip was deployed near the bottom of the Cuesta Grade,” Ofc. Alvarez said. Blowing the other three tires slowed the car down enough so officers could force it to spin out — called a “pursuit intervention technique” — and ended the pursuit near the Broad Street exit.
The driver, identified as Luciano Lopez of Watsonville, Calif., was arrested on suspicion of felony evading and driving under the influence of a drug, according the news release.
