Ventura County – On any given day, city driving can be a hazardous activity.
But when criminals are on the run from cops, and careen through urban and freeway traffic in an attempt to avoid arrest, driving can become dangerous indeed. Such was the case on the morning of August 29th, when Ventura County Sheriff’s Department patrol deputies from the Camarillo station responded to a citizen’s 911 Emergency call reporting an auto burglary in progress in the parking lot of the neighborhood iHop Pancake House.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Pete O’Sullivan, “when the suspect saw the deputy, he immediately ran to an waiting car, a 2003 silver Honda Accord.” The Honda, with three occupants, careened out of the parking lot at a high rate of speed, “almost causing an accident upon doing so.”
The Honda then fled at breakneck speed as additional VCSD patrol units joined the pursuit, which soon hit speeds of 70 mph through residential streets, eventually coming to a halt in a neighborhood cul-de-sac, whereupon two of the occupants alighted and took off on foot. The driver of the Honda, still behind the wheel, eventually collided with the patrol black-and-white, “causing minor damage” before speeding off once again.
The deputy on the scene, taking off on foot after the two running suspects, called for K-9 and aerial support units. As a secure perimeter was established and one of the sprinting subjects was quickly apprehended and identified by a witness. Another citizen call alerted deputies to the second man on foot, and when deputies responded to the reported location, they discovered the Honda—with front end damage “consistent with the damage sustained from colliding with the deputy’s patrol car”—and evidence of stolen property in the back seat.
While this was all transpiring, yet another citizen call alerted deputies to the sighting of the Honda driver getting into a local area taxi cab. The cab was soon located heading southbound on U.S. 101. As deputies worked through morning traffic in an attempt to catch the taxi on the freeway, they made contact with the driver, instructing him to take a Canoga Park area exit to “pull into a gas station.”
An example of a silver 2003 Honda Accord
The cab driver did as he was told, at which time deputies finally caught up to the taxi and arrested Isaac Antonio Castro, 30. He was transported to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on two counts of vehicle burglary and felony evading. His former passenger, Ildefonso Ramos-Cisnereos, 39, who failed to outrun deputies on foot, was booked on two counts of vehicle burglary and resisting or delaying a peace officer.
The third suspect remains at large.
Read more:
VCSTAR: Officials detail arrest of vehicle burglary suspects
Sespe Sun: Burglars arrested after brief pursuit
