High-Speed, DUI Pursuit Ends in Rollover Crash

A wanted felon allegedly drunk behind the wheel and a San Jose teenager sped down Highway 1 at nearly 120 mph early Monday, trying unsuccessfully to get away from the California Highway Patrol.

The chase started at Bay Avenue in Capitola around 1:25 a.m. and zipped south down the highway.  Eight miles later, the pair rolled their Mitsubishi down an embankment in the Vista Point overlook just north of Watsonville, the CHP reported.

Alfonzo Ruben Lopez Espinoza, a 23-year-old parolee-at-large from Hollister, was driving with an 18-year-old San Jose man and registered owner of the car riding shotgun, according to the CHP.

After the crash, Lopez-Espinoza was unresponsive and medics flew him to San Jose Regional Medical Center. The passenger was taken by ambulance to Watsonville Hospital. But both men were uninjured and released back to CHP officers.

Around 9 a.m. Monday, Lopez-Espinoza was being booked into County Jail fir a felony no-bail warrant, a parole hold and new charges stemming from the police chase: DUI, evading a peace officer and driving without a license.

The CHP didn't say what started the incident, expect that Lopez-Espinoza failed to stop when the CHP tried to pull him over. CHP officers are instructed to pursue fleeing vehicles.

The early-morning pursuit occurred while traffic was light, according to the CHP.