Theft of Van Turns Into Dead End for the Suspect

A stolen van was recovered Monday when it was spotted on the freeway by a friend of the owner, and the alleged thief was jailed after being caught and held for police by civilians, a San Diego police spokesman said.

Jose Guadelupe Yanez, who will be 20 on Friday, was arrested in National City on suspicion of auto theft and failure to yield to an officer.

A co-worker of the owner of the van spotted the vehicle being driven south on Interstate 5 near Gilman Drive, spokesman Dave Cohen said.

The woman who spotted the van used the cellular phone in her car to notify police.

The van soon popped up in the patrol car rear-view mirror of San Diego officers Brian Blagg and Diane Johnson. They allowed the van to pass them and began a chase that ended near the H Street freeway exit in Chula Vista.

The driver veered toward the center divider, jumped out and ran across the northbound lanes as the driverless van rolled back across the southbound lanes and came to a stop in a clump of bushes at the edge of the freeway, police said.

Blagg and Johnson stopped their patrol car and chased the driver on foot. They found him, they said, at 720 H St., where he had been caught and was being held by a group of civilians.