Police Blotter: Car Chase Closes Campus

A Watsonville man driving on a suspended license took just about every measure to get away from a California Highway Patrol officer Tuesday afternoon.

Hipolito Arenas, 36, was northbound on Highway 1 just before Freedom Boulevard when a CHP officer pulled him over, along with another driver suspected of speeding, around 2:21 p.m., CHP officer Sarah Jackson said.

Initially, Arenas stopped his 2002 gold Nissan Maxima on the shoulder of Highway 1. The officer spoke to the other driver first, and, apparently, Arenas saw his window to get away.

He took the Freedom Boulevard exit and turned into the Aptos Pines mobile home park. The neighborhood only has one entrance and exit, so the CHP officer waited at the front for Arenas and called for backup, Jackson said.

But about 2:28 p.m., a resident inside the mobile home park called 911 to report someone driving a car through a back fence. Arenas allegedly plowed through the fence and onto property, Jackson said.

At that point, the CHP notified the school, and the campus went into lockdown mode as CHP officers set up a perimeter.

Meanwhile, Arenas drove throughout the campus.

“He eventually went up around the high school and broke though another fence and drove on a small fire road behind the high school until he couldn’t drive anymore," Jackson said. “Unfortunately for him, it had just rained ... We could follow his tire prints."

When Arenas ran out of road, he got out of the car and fled into the woods. A CHP officer spotted him on Freedom Boulevard and, after a short foot chase, caught him, Jackson said.

Arenas was arrested on suspicion of vandalism—for the fences he allegedly drove through—resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license.

The CHP is still looking for Arenas' passenger, described as a Latino man in his early- to mid-30s with a medium to heavy build. Officers ask people call 831-662-0511 with information.

Jackson said that officers sometimes pull over two speeding vehicles at once, if there is enough space to safely stop. It eliminates the argument that everyone else was speeding, she said.

Watsonville police log, Tuesday, Feb. 15

7:57 a.m.—A car burglar smashed the rear driver's side window on a parked, locked car and stole items. The theft happened on the 100 block of William Avenue.

10:30 a.m.—Jose Martinez-Moz, 40, was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, possessing stolen property and appropriating lost property on the 300 block of West Beach Street.

10:34 a.m.—Identity theft reported on the 200 block of Hyde Street.

4:45 p.m.—Christopher Alcott, 38, was arrested on a warrant from San Mateo County. Alcott was panhandling in the parking lot on the 2000 block of Freedom Boulevard.

5:36 p.m.—Officers doing a probation search on the 300 block of Clifford Avenue allegedly found gang-related items in Josue Ramirez's home. He was arrested for a probation violation.

6:56 p.m.—Ricardo Fernandez was arrested on suspicion of having brass knuckles and violating his probation by having gang-related clothes in his home on the 400 block of Second Street.