Cyclist, 15, Cited in 42-Mile, High-Speed Chase

A 15-year-old motorcyclist led a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer on a 27-minute chase through the Santiago Canyon area at speeds exceeding 100 m.p.h., until the officer finally struck the youth’s bike with his own to bring him to a halt.

The officer, Jay Jentile, said he saw the boy, whose name was withheld, pass on the right at about 75 m.p.h. and then make an illegal stop at Santiago Canyon and Modjeska roads. Jentile said he turned on his flashing lights, but the youth “decided he didn’t want to stop and sped off at about 100 m.p.h.”

Jentile said that during the chase, the teen-ager continued passing on the right shoulder to dodge traffic. The pursuit proceeded south on El Toro Road, turned northwest on Trabuco Road, circled the El Toro Marine base, turned north on Newport Boulevard to Chapman Avenue, back to Santiago Canyon Road and eventually to Modjeska Grade Road, near where the 42-mile chase had begun.

There, a CHP vehicle blocked the path. The youth attempted to make a U-turn to escape but, as he did so, Jentile pulled up behind him and knocked him to the ground. There was a brief struggle, and the motorcyclist was arrested.

He was charged with evading arrest and reckless driving, and then was taken to the Brea Neuropsychiatric Hospital for observation.