Ventura County – Another reason to always look both ways when entering a light-controlled intersection–even when you have the green light right of way–became apparent on the afternoon of August 12th when Joshua Richard Nation, a 34-year-old Newbury Park resident blew through four red lights in his attempt to evade contact with pursuing black-and-whites.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective A. Marco, Nation had been under investigation and was wanted in connection with incidents of felony identity theft and felony domestic violence.
When he was spotted driving down a Simi Valley street in a “silver passenger vehicle,” a VCSD marked patrol unit attempted to conduct a routine traffic stop.
Clearly not interested in having any contact with law enforcement, Nation accelerated “at a high rate of speed” and the chase was on as he “flagrantly failed to yield” to the flashing lights and sirens on his tail.
Nation thereafter drove through two light-controlled intersections, “nearly colliding with a vehicle” as he did so. Considering the risk to the driving public, deputies halted their vehicular pursuit, only to discover the silver sedan had crashed into a block wall some distance later.
With witnesses reporting Nation’s flight away from the scene of his crash, deputies then summoned air support and a K9 unit to the scene.
It didn’t take long for Nation to be “located hiding in the locked rear patio area” of a private residence, whereupon he was taken in to custody and transported to Ventura County Jail for booking on charges of felony evading, hit and run, identity theft, and domestic violence.
