Santa Barbara Police Department officers responded to a report of a cab stolen at the Chevron service station at 115 N. La Cumbre Road about 3:53 a.m. Monday.
The victim had gone inside the station and left his keys in the ignition. A white male adult drove off in the vehicle. Travis Ean Costa-Lopez, 22, has been arrested in the case.
The victim said he recognized the suspect as someone he had given a free ride the night before. Officers spotted the vehicle at State Street and Las Positas. Officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the vehicle by activating lights and a siren. The driver of the vehicle didn’t comply and a pursuit began.
The driver drove on Las Positas to Cliff Drive, then eastbound on Cliff Drive. During the pursuit, the driver was obeying the traffic signals by stopping and using his turn signal. The vehicle was traveling about 40 mph eastbound on Cliff Drive. He turned southbound on Castillo Street, then eastbound on Cabrillo Boulevard. Additional officers responded and assisted with the pursuit. The driver continued on Coast Village Road, then entered the freeway and headed south on Highway 101.
California Highway Patrol units took over the pursuit and set up a spike strip at Ventura and Highway 33. The suspect drove around the strip and onto Highway 33. He eventually turned back around and got back on the 101 southbound. He drove into Oxnard and Port Hueneme, then entered Highway 1 and continued southbound.
The Ventura Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Oxnard Police Department and Ventura CHP were involved in the pursuit.
The suspect eventually came to a stop at Topanga Canyon Road and Highway 1. The pursuit lasted about an hour. CHP units surrounded the car and ordered the driver out of the vehicle. He was taken into custody without incident.
Costa-Lopez was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of possessing a stolen vehicle and vehicle evading. The investigation revealed that Costa-Lopez is a transient out of the Los Angeles area.
Lorenzo Duarte is a sergeant for the Santa Barbara Police Department.