Suspects were from Sacramento area
SALINAS—The word “vacation” is defined as a period of time that a person spends away from home, school or work, usually in order to relax or travel. Well, two guys from Sacramento took the time off to travel, but forgot to relax.
On Tuesday, February 3, while vacationing in what John Steinbeck coined ‘East of Eden’, the two young men were driving down Monterey Street with two young women in the car when they went through an intersection. Normally this would not be a problem, but in this case they were in the right turn only lane. Unfortunately for them a Salinas Police Motor Officer saw them.
Still not a problem, If they would have pulled over and explained to the officer that they were from out of town and did not know the streets. However, when the officer attempted to pull them over, the car bolted for the freeway.
As they approached the overpass, the passenger in the front seat decided to get rid of the .357 caliber handgun that he was hiding by tossing it out the window. As he did, the gun discharged a bullet into the dashboard of the gray Chevy Cruze they were driving.
Earle drove up this off-ramp, and then came back down before crashing.
The driver decided to head north on Highway 101 from North Main Street. He drove between cars in traffic in an attempt to get through quickly. He then exited the freeway at the next off-ramp, West Laurel Drive, but instead of making the turn onto the street, he made a U-turn and headed down the same off-ramp driving against traffic.
Now driving southbound in the northbound lanes, it was not long before the he lost control and crashed into an embankment. The young men left the two passengers behind as they ran from the vehicle. The two females were later released, the two guys escaped, and the investigation continued.
The next day, detectives with the Salinas Police Department spotted the two females that were released from custody the day prior walking with two gentlemen in the area of Prader and Alisal Streets. The two girls were contacted and admitted to being in the vehicle.
Earle, White, and the two females were seen the next day in this area.
Detectives then addressed the two males and took them into custody. Officers found evidence that showed the suspect 20-year-old Brandon Alexander Earle of Sacramento was the driver of the vehicle, and that his friend 19-year-old Daniel White of Sacramento was the person who threw the gun out of the window.
Both suspects were taken into custody and lodged into the Monterey County Jail. One of the two girls was only 16 years old and was placed with Child Protective Services.
Earle was charged with felony evading, along with outstanding warrants out of Sacramento. Records show he was arrested by Rancho Cordova police on November 14 for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or co-habitant (domestic violence), abuse, and committing a felony while released on bail. Prior to that, in March of 2014, he was charged with robbery, attempted robbery, possession of stolen property, and resisting arrest. He had been arrested originally by Rancho Cordova police on March 6 at the Mar-Rita Apartments on Mather Field Road for robbery and possession of a controlled substance, which he brought into jail when he was booked, adding another charge to the list. His failure to appear in court resulted in the arrest warrants.
Danile White was charged with carrying a loaded weapon. White also had prior arrests, according to available records. On October 9 he was picked up for possession of a controlled substance, and on January 31 of 2014 he was charged with battery on a person on public transportation, such as a bus driver, train operator, or passenger. Details of those incidents were not available.
