KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – An early morning vehicle pursuit on Thursday resulted in the arrest of a Kelseyville man.
Jesus Primitivo Lopez, 36, was arrested for evading a peace officer with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, violation of his post release community supervision terms and driving on a suspended license, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
At 12:15 a.m. Thursday a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy was traveling southbound on Highway 29 when he noticed a beige colored Nissan Maxima sedan directly in front of him, which was also southbound, according to Brooks.
As the vehicles approached the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 175, the Nissan entered the left turn lane and stopped for the red light. The deputy noticed that the brake lamps of the vehicle did not illuminate when it came to a stop, which is a violation of the California Vehicle Code, said Brooks.
When the light turned green, the vehicle started to make a left turn through the intersection. Brooks said the deputy activated his forward facing red light to conduct an enforcement stop.
The vehicle stopped at the posted stop sign at the intersection of Highway 175 and Soda Bay Road and turned right onto Soda Bay Road. Brooks said the deputy activated all of the emergency overhead lights and the siren of his vehicle.
The vehicle entered the parking lot of Jack in the Box, slowed down and then quickly accelerated through the parking lot at speeds in excess of 15 miles per hour, Brooks said. The deputy reported there were several people standing in the parking lot as the vehicle traveled through at an unsafe speed.
Brooks said the vehicle entered Soda Bay Road traveling southbound. The vehicle accelerated to speeds in excess of 75 miles per hour in a marked 35-mile-per-hour zone. The vehicle also traveled over the marked double yellow lines several times as the driver attempted to evade the deputy.
During the pursuit two deputies had positioned themselves in the area of Soda Bay Road and Osprey Court in Lakeport. Brooks said the deputies deployed a spike strip in an attempt to safely disable the tires of the vehicle. The suspect vehicle drove over the spike strip disabling all four tires.
The vehicle continued at approximately 65 miles per hour in a marked 45-mile-per-hour zone in a residential area that also is the primary entrance to Konocti Vista Casino, Brooks said.
He said the vehicle's driver attempted to turn left onto Mission Rancheria Road but lost control due to the high rate of speed and disabled tires.
The vehicle hit a fence and a tree located in the front yard of a residence. The deputy was able to take the driver, Jesus Lopez, into custody without further incident, according to Brooks.
Brooks said the deputy reported that Lopez drove with complete disregard for the safety of other potential motorists, pedestrians and residents in and around the roadway where the incident took place. Due to Lopez’s disregard for safety, the pursuit resulted with his vehicle colliding with a property fence line, approximately 15 feet away from a residence.
The collision did not result in any injuries, Brooks said.
Because Lopez is a state prison parolee who is alleged to have violated his post release community supervision terms – he was released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with Lake County Probation assigned to supervise him – he is being held without bail, according to jail records.