VENTURA — Some people have either seen every installment of the Fast and the Furious movies and have taken that as more instructional than entertaining, or they’re simply living in a world where driving a stolen car, then leading the cops in a high-speed car chase, then abandoning the purloined vehicle and taking off on foot seems like a good idea.
That’s a nice fantasy for some, but sometimes criminals get lucky, as was proven once again in the early morning hours of June 5th in the city of Ventura. It was at approximately 2:20 a.m., when, according to the Ventura Police Department Watch Commander’s report, Ventura Police Patrol officers—who were cruising the downtown streets in search of a vehicle burglary suspect—“saw a vehicle driving at a high rate of speed attempting to flee the area.”
That kind of driving behavior is unlikely to go unnoticed by cops, and the chase was on. But before contact with the errant vehicle could be made, it “was involved in a collision with a parked vehicle,” whereupon the driver immediately alighted and took off on foot. Left inside the car was a less quick-to-respond passenger, 27-year-old Juan Arias, a Ventura resident.
While Arias was being contacted and interviewed by the officers, the VPD K-9 unit was summoned and an area search for the fleeing suspect was initiated…to no avail, as “after a lengthy search, the suspect was not located.” The hapless Arias, however, was found to be in possession of narcotics paraphernalia and was transported to Ventura County Jail for booking on that charge.
Ventura Police urge anyone with information about this incident to contact them anonymously at 800-222-TIPS.
