Vacaville PD Officials Inadvertently Involved in 120+ MPH Pursuit; Suspect Arrested
On their way to a police academy graduation ceremony in Concord, four top Vacaville police administrators had to resort to their own basic police officer training again and engage in a high-speed pursuit.
Chief Randy Ulibarri and Lieutenants John Carli, Ian Schmutzler and John Lydon had just entered the freeway in Vacaville when they encountered 23-year-old San Lorenzo resident Abel Guardado Dubon driving a grey Volvo sedan well in excess of the 65 MPH speed limit.
Lydon was driving the marked and fully equipped VPD patrol car. Suddenly, he caught sight of Dubon’s Volvo looming quickly in the rear view mirror. Dubon then shot two lanes to the right in passing the four uniformed officials. Lydon switched on the patrol car’s lights and siren. The chase was on.
“It took me awhile to catch up,” Lydon told a Vacaville Reporter reporter. Dubon recklessly weaved through busy freeway traffic at 95 MPH at that point. When Lydon finally caught up, the lights and siren had no effect. Dubon accelerated to 120+MPH.
As Dubon crossed the Vallejo city limits, Solano County Sheriff’s deputies took over primary pursuit duties.
About a mile further, the pursuit ended as suddenly as it had begun. Dubon crashed into a wall beside the Carquinez Bridge toll plaza. Dubon suffered minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital before being taken into custody.
“It was concerning,” said Lydon afterwards, alluding to the fact that drivers who see a marked patrol car generally slow down. Authorities said they were mystified as to why Dubon refused to pull over.
Read More:
Times Herald: High -speed Vacaville-to-Vallejo chase ends in crash
