Local News in Brief : Colorado Trucker Held After Two-Hour Chase

A Colorado truck driver led California Highway Patrol officers on a chase for nearly two hours Sunday, driving from the Palm Springs area through Los Angeles and up to Newhall before running out of gas, authorities said.

John P. Stirewalt, 23, of Colorado Springs, was being held in lieu of $3,000 bail at the jail at the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley substation. Although sheriff’s deputies said he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, CHP officials said Stirewalt would face only traffic-related offenses, including reckless driving.

The chase began shortly after noon on Interstate 10 when a CHP officer saw Stirewalt’s tractor-trailer rig in the wrong lane speeding west near Palm Springs, CHP officials said. The driver of the truck refused to pull over. Several other CHP units joined in the chase that went into Los Angeles, then continued northbound on the Golden State Freeway, officials said. Speeds reached 75 m.p.h.

CHP officials said the driver attempted to hit the pursuing vehicles during the chase. The pursuit ended when Stirewalt’s truck ran out of gas on the freeway, authorities said.