May 4, 2022 – Santa Barbara County, Ca. – What some criminals may not realize is that fleeing a jurisdiction where a crime has been committed doesn’t let a perpetrator off the hook. Cops don’t simply stop at the county line when pursuing the driver of a stolen car who takes that vehicle into the law enforcement jurisdiction of an adjacent county.
Quite the opposite appears to have occurred on the afternoon of May 3rd when, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Maria Barriga, the pursuit of a stolen Ford F150 pickup truck began in San Luis Obispo County with patrol units of The San Luis Obispo Police Department on its tail. While SLO Police black-and-whites began the chase, once the stolen truck veered on U.S. 101 southbound “with speeds reaching up to 90 mph,” San Luis Obispo-based Highway Patrol units promptly joined the action.
But “once the pursuit reached Highway 166, Santa Maria CHP officers took over” and threw spike strips on the roadway as the stolen truck approached. That tool had its desired effect, “deflating one front and one rear tire.”
But the suspect—later identified as 26-year-old Paso Robles resident Jyerick Zane Nebeker—was undaunted, continuing to head southbound.
Undoubtedly reaching the end of their patience, CHP units then initiated a “Pursuit Immobilization Technique (PIT), wherein the pursuing unit accelerates to match the speed of the fleeing vehicle and then creates a minor impact with the suspect vehicle’s bumper, causing it to spin out of control. At that point, Nebeker lost control of the pickup truck and it was brought to a halt. Nebeker was taken into custody in Santa Barbara County, but was returned to San Luis Obispo County where he was transported to SLO County Jail and booked on charges of evading a police officer and auto theft.
-by Robert McCullough
Photo: Courtesy www.police1.com
