A Santa Maria man was arrested Sunday after police say he struck one of their units with a stolen car before leading officers in a vehicle pursuit and then a foot chase.
Sgt. Eligio Lara said officers located a vehicle about 10:30 a.m. in the 300 block of East Inger Drive that had reported stolen earlier Sunday morning.
The officers conducted surveillance of the vehicle, and attempted to arrest a suspect, identified as Steven Diaz, when he approached and entered the vehicle.
Lara said Diaz then tried to run over one of the officers and struck a police unit before driving off and again attempting to ram a police unit.
When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle, the suspect failed to yield and led officers in a vehicle pursuit, according to Lara.
He said that after an eight-pursuit, during which the driver struck a tree in the 1000 block of West Morrison Avenue , the suspect stopped the vehicle in the 300 block of West Battles Road and fled on foot.
After a short foot chase, Diaz was arrested in the area of Newlove Drive and Roschelle Lane.
— Noozhawk managing editor Michelle Nelson can be reached at mnelson@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
