Police Chase Hits 70 MPH Near Walker Street

A 19-year-old man driving a stolen car led police on a high-speed chase on city streets Tuesday morning, but skidded out and was arrested, Watsonville police reported.

The incident began around 11 a.m. when Agent Bryan Fuentez with the Santa Cruz County Auto Theft Task Force was on a stakeout near the Days Inn Hotel at 1620 W. Beach St. to investigate a stolen car report: a 1991 white Toyota Camry that had been parked at the hotel, according to police.

Fuentez was watching the vehicle when three men and a woman walked out of the hotel. One man got in the stolen car; the other three piled into a silver 1987 Toyota Camry. The cars drove toward Watsonville and Fuentez, who was in an unmarked car, followed while calling for backup, police said.

The two Toyotas followed each other to Ohlone Parkway near Harkins Slough, where two police cruisers caught up to them and stopped the Toyotas. The silver car pulled over, but the white one sped up, police said.

Officers pursued the white car down Harkins Slough Road to Walker Street, where speeds hit 70 mph. At Riverside Drive, the driver tried to turn left but skidded out and hit a guard rail on the southeast corner of the intersection, police said.

The driver, Michael Manning, 19, tried to run but was caught about 100 feet from the wrecked car, police said.

Manning was arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, felony evading, participation in a criminal street gang, resisting arrest and a probation violation, police said.

The trio in the silver car were detained briefly. The car had been reported stolen in the past, but had already been recovered. Officers couldn't reach the car's owner to determine if the car had been stolen a second time, so the vehicle was impounded as evidence. The three occupants were released without charges, police said.