Garden Grove : Car Theft Suspect Hurt in Crash in Police Chase

An auto theft suspect wanted for desertion from the Navy in 1984 was hospitalized Monday night after he allegedly crashed a stolen car into a building while being pursued by Garden Grove police, a police spokesman said.

Timothy Kelsey, 24, listed by police as a transient, was reported in good condition Tuesday in the jail ward of UCI Medical Center, where he was being treated for a facial fracture and a broken right arm, a hospital spokesman said.

Kelsey was being held on suspicion of grand theft auto, evading arrest, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as a desertion warrant issued by the Navy on Aug. 8, 1984, Police Sgt. Randy Tucker said.

At about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, a Garden Grove police officer tried to stop Kelsey, who was driving at an unsafe speed southbound on Euclid Street at Westminster Avenue, Tucker said.

A chase ensued at speeds up to 70 m.p.h. into Westminster and back into Garden Grove until the suspect’s car failed to negotiate a sharp turn and crashed into a garage at the intersection of Cannery and Magnolia streets, Tucker said. The car, which had been stolen from a Garden Grove bar earlier in the evening, was destroyed in the crash, he said.