Orange : Driver Arrested After Hitting 3 Cars in Chase

An Anaheim man driving home from a wedding reception was arrested after a four-minute chase in which he allegedly hit a police car, spun out on a freeway exit, then drove south in the northbound lanes of the Orange Freeway, authorities said Sunday.

David A. Keel, 28, was driving a red Toyota on Glassell Street near La Veta Avenue with a woman passenger when Orange police officers tried to stop the car, which had no lights on at 7:29 p.m. Saturday, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said. When Keel stopped the car momentarily, his passenger fled.

According to the spokeswoman, Keel then sped away onto the westbound Garden Grove Freeway, drove north onto the Orange Freeway and spun out at the top of the Orangewood Avenue exit. The Orange police car following him came to a stop nearby, authorities said, but Keel accelerated, striking the cruiser. He then continued the wrong way on the Orange freeway, sideswiping a pickup truck and striking a Chevrolet Impala.

Orange police arrested Keel, who was taken to UCI Medical Center’s jail ward for treatment of moderate injuries, authorities said. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, driving while intoxicated and causing injury while evading a police officer.

The driver of the pickup truck, identified as Kenneth Myers, 35, of Anaheim, was not injured, but police said his passenger, Darlene VanWormer, 38, was taken to UCI Medical Center with moderate head injuries. William Forman, 27, of Hacienda Heights was not injured when his Impala was hit, authorities said.

An investigation into the crashes is continuing, the CHP spokeswoman said.