Man Arrested in Assault on Police With Car

A Seal Beach man, suspected of trying to run down policemen controlling traffic at the scene of an accident, was arrested Thursday after allegedly leading police on a chase and barricading himself inside his parents’ home, police said.

John Nelson, 19, of 4365 Hazelnut Ave., Seal Beach, was booked at Orange County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon (an automobile) on a police officer, said Capt. Bill Stearns.

Police used tear gas to flush Nelson from an upstairs bedroom of the two-story home, Stearns said. Nelson struggled with police during a brief scuffle in which four or five officers suffered minor cuts and abrasions as well as exposure to tear gas, police said.

According to Stearns, the incident began at about 9:40 a.m. at the scene of an accident on Seal Beach Boulevard, south of the San Diego Freeway.

One person was briefly trapped inside a car and Seal Beach Police Officer Steve Chauncey and Highway Patrol Officer Darrell Brooks were engaged in traffic control at Seal Beach Boulevard and Beverly Manor Drive.

A person driving “a large sedan” failed to yield to an officer’s direction and instead accelerated directly at the two officers, Stearns said. “The officers were able to jump out of the way, escaping injury.”

Brooks, in a patrol car, pursued the car, following it to the Hazelnut Avenue address in the College Park East area of Seal Beach, Stearns said. The suspect drove into the garage, closed the door and barricaded himself in the residence, he said.

Police SWAT officers surrounded the house, and although a police negotiator telephoned Nelson, he refused to talk to them, Stearns said. Los Alamitos Unified School District officials aided police by diverting school buses from the immediate neighborhood, Stearns said.