Costa Mesa : Doggie Door Leads to Jail for Chase Suspect

A Canadian citizen, arrested after a high-speed chase, ended up in the doghouse Tuesday after reportedly trying to evade officers through a garage doggie door.

Jason Randall Tamblyn, 18, of Costa Mesa was being held Tuesday night in City Jail after being arrested for trespassing, hit-and-run driving, evading an officer and driving without a license or registration.

Officer Dennis Jefcoat said Tamblyn is in the United States without documentation and will be held for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The chase began, Jefcoat said, when Officer Tom Winter, who was riding a motorcycle and using radar, spotted Tamblyn’s car traveling east at a high rate of speed on 22nd Street near Newport Boulevard. Tamblyn did not stop when Winter pulled up behind him, Jefcoat said, and instead led Winter and other officers in patrol cars on a chase at speeds in excess of 90 m.p.h.

On Mesa Drive, Jefcoat said, Tamblyn’s car slowed briefly and two passengers jumped out and fled. The car then speeded up past Santa Ana Avenue, where the road becomes a steep grade, according to Jefcoat. Atop the hill, Jefcoat said, Tamblyn’s car became airborne, turned sideways and landed on top of a Mercedes traveling up the hill in the opposite direction. The Mercedes then struck a truck in front of it, as well as another car, which was parked nearby.

“It’s a miracle nobody got hurt,” Jefcoat said. “It was a mess.”

When the tangled vehicles came to a stop, the driver fled on foot over several backyard fences and into a residential area along Willow Lane with Jefcoat in pursuit. The officer began searching houses along the street until, in the 2600 block of Willow Lane, Jefcoat noticed a garage with a small opening, known as a doggie door.

Inside the garage, under several mattresses, Jefcoat found Tamblyn and arrested him.

“I noticed these scuff marks all around it (the door),” Jefcoat said. “And you know, dogs don’t leave scuff marks.”