Police Arrest Suspect After 52-Mile Chase

An unemployed shipping clerk driving a gold Mercedes on Monday led authorities on a 52-mile chase over Orange County freeways and surface streets at speeds reaching 115 m.p.h., authorities said.

During the high-speed chase, which weaved across freeway lanes in noontime traffic, Santa Ana police were joined by helicopter crews from the Huntington Beach Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, as well as two California Highway Patrol cars and a Costa Mesa police car.

In the midst of the pursuit, the suspect hit another car on the freeway, which police believe was a deliberate attempt to delay the chase. The driver of that car was not injured, Santa Ana police said.

The 1983 Mercedes, which had been reported stolen, was under surveillance at the Embassy Suites Hotel parking lot on Dyer Road at Grand Avenue in Santa Ana when the suspect, identified as Charles Steven Beale, 28, left the hotel and got into the car about 11:30 a.m., Santa Ana police said.

Beale was followed from Dyer Road to Main Street by two police patrol cars when the pursuit began, said Maureen Thomas, a Santa Ana Police Department spokeswoman.

Police said the suspect sped down Main Street to Red Hill Avenue, continued on Red Hill to Bristol Street, then got on the southbound San Diego Freeway. The Mercedes and the pursuing patrol cars raced south to the Lake Forest Drive off-ramp in El Toro, where the driver of the Mercedes exited, crossed over the freeway, then got back on the same freeway--this time headed north.

Instead of continuing on the San Diego Freeway, however, the driver of the Mercedes veered northbound on the Santa Ana Freeway and got off at 17th Street, where he parked the car and tried to run. Police chased him across the street to a Circle K market and found him hiding behind the store.

Santa Ana police investigator David Salceda said the chase took 30 minutes, and criss-crossed all traffic lanes and the freeway shoulder.

Beale was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, receiving stolen property, assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run and evading arrest, police said. The Mercedes was reported stolen Nov. 3 in Santa Ana, police said.

Beale also is suspected in the theft of an Acura, reported stolen in Oakland and recovered in Santa Ana, Salceda said, adding that Tustin police were questioning him in connection with possible crimes in their city.