High-speed chase leads to hospital for fleeing parolee
SANTA PAULA — A high-speed car chase through the communities of Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Paula ended after midnight last Monday with the hospitalization and arrest of parolee Octavio Maldonado III, 29. 
The action began at approximately 1:15 a.m. Sept. 27, according to Santa Paula police Sgt. Ismael Cordero, when Oxnard patrol units attempted a traffic stop on Maldonado’s 1995 Chrysler Sebring. In response to the flashing lights behind him, Maldonado accelerated onto the northbound US 101 freeway, reaching speeds in excess of 80 mph. “By the time he hit 90 mph, CHP was alerted and they took the lead in the pursuit,” Cordero told the media.
Maldonado’s Chrysler then headed east on SR-126, reaching the outskirts of Fillmore with CHP units close behind. At that time, Maldonado made an abrupt u-turn and began heading west on SR-126.
As the fleeing vehicle entered Santa Paula, it slowed near the 8th Street bridge, whereupon Maldonado attempted to exit the Chrysler via the passenger-side window. The attempt was momentarily unsuccessful, as he became stuck in the window and his car veered to the far left side of the roadway. At that time, Maldonado fell out of the passenger window onto the asphalt roadway, then ran to the bridge railing and vaulted over it, falling more than 20 feet to the street below.
Maldonado suffered two fractured wrists, facial fractures, a fractured foot and several broken teeth in the fall. He was transported by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center and arrested on charges of DUI, resisting arrest, and felony evading.
