Car Chase Ends with Crash into Fire Hydrant

A California Highway Patrol stakeout on a stolen Jeep morphed into a high-speed car chase that ended abruptly when the Jeep collided with a fire hydrant north of Watsonville on Monday afternoon, the CHP reported.

The man driving the stolen Jeep, Iran Perez, 30, ran from the crash scene—where the crushed fire hydrant gushed water like a geyser—and through the backyards of several homes before he finally was arrested, according to the CHP.

The dramatic scene unfolded around 4 p.m. on Green Valley Road near Amesti Road, where a CHP officer spotted the stolen 1995 Jeep Cherokee abandoned. The officer put the Jeep under surveillance and, a short time later, Perez came out and got in the vehicle. The pursuit ensued, according to the CHP.

Perez crashed into the fire hydrant at Miller Avenue near Buena Vista Drive, about 1.4 miles from where the chase began. The CHP reported he was driving recklessly before the collision.

Perez ran, but was caught about a quarter mile away on Hannah Lane north of Calabasas Road, according to the CHP.

Perez, a wanted parolee who was homeless in Watsonville, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, hit and run, and resisting arrest, the CHP reported.