Purse snatching and assault lead to high-speed chase from Laguna Beach to Newport; suspect arrested

A high-speed police chase Sunday night ended with a 25-year-old man arrested on suspicion of stealing a woman’s purse and assaulting her husband and teenage son in Laguna Beach, authorities said.

The family members, visiting Laguna Beach from the Bay Area, were walking in the 600 block of South Coast Highway at about 10 p.m. when a man snatched the woman’s purse, said Laguna Beach police Sgt. Jim Cota.

A fight broke out when the woman’s husband and her son tried to stop the man. The teen and his father were hit with a flashlight in the scuffle, Cota said.

The man got in a car and fled on South Coast Highway toward Newport Beach. A Laguna Beach officer pulled over the vehicle, but the driver hit the gas and sped away, Cota said.

The car reached speeds up to 90 mph along the highway, Cota said.

Newport Beach police used a spike strip to blow all four of the vehicle’s tires near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Dover Drive at about 10:30 p.m., authorities said

James Kelley of San Bernardino was arrested on suspicion of robbery, felony evading and assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN