A 43-year-old Santa Barbara man was arrested early Tuesday on DUI and other charges after leading several law enforcement agencies on a 22-mile high-speed chase that ended in a remote area near Figueroa Mountain, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Bruce Mario Flores was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail early Tuesday after the exhaustive search that involved sheriff’s deputies, two K-9 Teams, California Highway Patrol ground units, and a CHP helicopter, said Kelly Hoover, sheriff spokeswoman.
The pursuit began around 9:45 p.m. Monday, when a deputy attempted to pull Flores over near Santa Ynez High School on eastbound Highway 246 because he did not have any tail lights working and for erratic driving, Hoover said.
Flores refused to yield and, instead, did a U-turn and fled westbound on Highway 246 at a high rate of speed, she said.
Flores sped through intersections and ran several red lights during the pursuit, which continued onto Highway 154, Armor Ranch Road and up Happy Canyon Road, Hoover said.
During the pursuit, which reached speeds up to 100 mph, deputies witnessed Flores throwing evidence out of his car, Hoover said.
CHP assisted in the pursuit, which ended at the Sunset Trail head about 10:15 p.m. when the vehicle was located but the suspect was not inside, she said.
Hoover said sheriff’s K9 units led the search teams down the Sunset Trail for about a half mile, where they indicated the suspect may have gone off the trail down the steep hillside.
After several hours of searching steep terrain and heavy brush, the CHP helicopter observed a “faint heat signature” on their FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) equipment and directed deputies to the location in the remote area of Figueroa Mountain off Sunset Valley Road.
Flores was discovered at 12:40 a.m. hiding in heavy brush under a fallen tree trunk on the steep hillside.
He was taken into custody after a brief struggle and transported to county jail after being medically cleared at the hospital, Hoover said.
Flores, who is on probation, was booked into the jail on suspicion of evading a peace officer with reckless disregard for the public, reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol, driving with a suspended license, failure to comply with a peace officer, and miscellaneous traffic infractions.
Hoover said an additional charge of possession of a stolen vehicle will be filed, since the vehicle Flores was driving was reported stolen before the conclusion of the event.
Flores is serving his 10-day probation-violation sentence, and his bail is set at $75,000.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.