2 Arrested in Santa Barbara County High Speed Chase
The driver of a stolen truck out of Salinas led law enforcement on a chase from Santa Maria to Gaviota Tuesday morning.
The pursuit ended after the suspects, Jason Crisp, 29, and Ricki Lee Warren, 20, exited the freeway in Gaviota and ran towards the beach. A sheriff’s department K9 dragged the male suspect to deputies.
On Monday night, a 2007 Dodge Ram truck was stolen from a Salinas car lot.
Santa Maria Police spotted the pickup but lost sight of it. Officers called the California Highway Patrol in case the driver headed toward the freeway.
“Both of them go in position, just north of the 154, when they saw the vehicle heading in a high rate of speed pass right by them,” said Sgt. Don Clotworthy of the CHP.
As the officers tried to pull over the driver, Crisp sped up to around 100 miles per hour. His girlfriend, Warren, was also in the truck.
It was around 6:30 a.m. and Phil Johnson was one of the few people on the road heading to work. When he was approaching the Nojoqui Grade, he saw lights and sirens behind him. All of a sudden, a speeding truck passed Johnson and drove into the northbound lanes in the wrong direction.
“As soon as he crossed that barrier, they turned their lights off. And I watched him,” said Johnson. “I could see a big truck coming, and this guy was flashing his lights at the big truck, to let him know he’s going. And I’m just thinking, I hope he doesn’t go through the tunnel. He’s gotta come back.”
“We’re not sure exactly where the suspects actually crossed back in the southbound lanes, but we’re sure glad that they did,” said Clotworthy.
Officers spotted the truck as it got off the freeway at Mariposa Reina and abruptly stopped.
Once Crisp and Warren got out of the stolen truck, they ran towards private property and over a chain link fence. That’s when the sheriff’s department K9 unit tracked the suspects nearly a mile back North, toward the Gaviota Pier.
Aco, a 95-pound German Shepard, followed the scent through the sand and water until he found Crisp hiding behind a rock. Since he wouldn’t come out, Aco dragged him out by the leg and Crisp was arrested.
“Very minor injuries. As is protocol, he was taken to the hospital and medically cleared,” said Clotworthy.
Warren was also arrested after giving up, but was not bit.
Crisp was already wanted in Salinas for a previous auto theft charge. Now he faces even more time behind bars for the new charges of auto theft, possession of stolen property, felony evading and driving under the influence in Santa Barbara County.
Warren will be charged as an accomplice.
Slideshow: Pursuit Ends in Santa Barbara County with Arrests 29669334
