Two Arrested After 30-Minute Pursuit : Officer Injured as Chase Ends in Crash

An Anaheim police officer was injured Monday when a high-speed pursuit ended in a head-on collision.

The 30-minute chase, which began on Anaheim surface streets and expanded to involve several patrol cars and a police helicopter, continued eastbound and then westbound on the Riverside Freeway, and northbound on the Santa Ana Freeway.

When it ended at 12:41 p.m. at a Buena Park intersection, four Anaheim police cars had been damaged and Officer Robert Flores was taken to Anaheim Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for back injuries. He was later released.

The chase began when police responded to a report of a van stolen from a residence in the 800 block of South Anaheim Boulevard about noon, Anaheim city spokeswoman Barbara Burke said.

Two police officers spotted a van matching the description of the stolen vehicle in the 700 block of Melrose Street and tried to stop the driver, who sped off, she said.

Police pursued the van at normal speeds on surface streets, but the chase accelerated to speeds of 80 to 100 m.p.h. after the van entered the eastbound Riverside Freeway.

“They used all lanes and shoulders of the freeway,” Burke said. “The van was followed by three or four (police) units. Our helicopter was also dispatched. During the pursuit the suspect tried to ram the patrol cars.”

The driver made a U-turn on the freeway near Weir Canyon Road, and the chase continued westbound on the Riverside Freeway. The driver forced two patrol cars off the freeway at Lakeview Avenue and slammed into another one near Euclid Avenue.

The van then continued onto the northbound Santa Ana Freeway and took the Beach Boulevard exit onto Manchester Boulevard. The van spun out of control when the driver tried to make a left turn at Whitaker Street and collided head-on with a patrol car.

Police arrested Richard George Aguirre, 32, of Anaheim on suspicion of auto theft, hit-and-run and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

A passenger in the van, Norma Kay Maese, 32, of Anaheim also was arrested on suspicion of auto theft and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. Both were being held in Anaheim City Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail each.