Officer Nearly Run Down; Driver Held

A Santa Ana man was arrested after trying to run down a Westminster motorcycle patrolman during a chase, authorities said Saturday.

Westminster Police Sgt. Larry Russell said the incident began around 8:45 p.m. Friday when a car driven by Jose Manuel Najarra Herrera, 21, was spotted speeding in the area of Bushard Street and McFadden Avenue.

Russell said that Herrera failed to stop for police and that a chase began, covering a 4-mile area through commercial and residential areas in Westminster and Garden Grove.

Herrera ran at least four stop signs and traffic lights before he entered a residential area in Garden Grove, Russell said.

“At that point, the suspect turned his car around and tried to flee again, aiming his car at a police motorcycle,” he said. The patrolman hopped off his motorcycle before Herrera’s car slammed into it, police said.

The patrolman fired two shots at the suspect’s car. Both hit the car, but Herrera was not wounded, Russell said.

Herrera was stopped two blocks away and arrested. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest and driving under the influence of alcohol. He was treated and released for minor injuries at Humana Hospital in Westminster and later taken to Orange County Jail, where bail was set at $25,000.