Suspect escapes custody

Arrested and hospitalized with minor injuries after causing an accident while allegedly trying to shake off a pursuing CHP officer, authorities say a woman managed to give an officer the slip Tuesday morning by walking out of a Santa Ana hospital.

A California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said authorities are trying to figure out how Xana Diolinda Marks, clad in a hospital gown, got past the officer, who was supposed to be guarding her.

Officer Jennifer Hink said Marks, 23, of Chino left the hospital room and walked out the front door of Western Medical Center-Santa Ana at 4:30 a.m.

“We don’t know if somebody picked her up or if she kept on walking,” Hink said.

On Monday, Marks allegedly was driving a silver 2008 Nissan Pathfinder that was reported stolen from a Redlands dealership, Hink said. The plates on the SUV were reported stolen in Glendale.

At 3:05 p.m., CHP Officer Michael Madden saw the driver make an unsafe lane change on the northbound 5 Freeway and stopped her at the Red Hill Avenue offramp in Tustin.

When the officer got out of his cruiser, the driver sped away, Hink said. She headed south on Red Hill Avenue pursued by the CHP and was slowed by cars stopped at a red light at Warner Avenue. Hink said the driver crossed over into northbound traffic and hit two vehicles. The Nissan overturned and landed on its roof.

Marks crawled out of the SUV and bolted, according to the CHP account, and Madden, who had chased the suspect this far, was determined to catch her. A brief foot race ended when Marks reached a fence. Madden tackled her and slapped on the handcuffs.

Three occupants in the other two vehicles were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. A Tustin police spokesman said the suspect’s vehicle also hit an unoccupied parked car near Red Hill and Sycamore avenues during the chase.

Hink said officers recovered “a lot of bottles of alcohol” and drug paraphernalia in the Nissan as well as documents with the name and address of a doctor. The doctor’s home in San Juan Capistrano had been burglarized earlier Monday by a woman and two men, Hink said.

According to a CHP report of the incident, officers also found “property and evidence from numerous residential burglaries” inside the vehicle.

Marks, now considered a fugitive, is white, 5 feet 6, 118 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. She has outstanding warrants for burglary and stolen property, according to a CHP report.

She also is facing charges of felony evading arrest, driving a stolen vehicle and obstructing a police officer as a result of the chase.

Tustin police, who are investigating the traffic collision that ended the chase, said any additional charges from that incident will be tacked onto CHP charges.

--

hgreza@latimes.com