Van Escapes Into Mexico After Pursuit From Santa Ana

A chase from Santa Ana to Mexico ended Thursday when two men in a stolen van eluded police and the California Highway Patrol and disappeared across the border.

The van led patrol cars and a helicopter through three counties at speeds reaching 100 m.p.h. before it slipped into Mexico. Although police notified Mexican officials that the van was heading for the border, they did ask not for help in stopping it.

“It is not all that uncommon for stolen vehicles to make it across the border,” CHP officer Richard Lalima said. “Once it gets to that point, it is out of our hands. It’s up to them to do what they feel is necessary.”

The two-hour chase to Mexico began at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday after residents on a quiet street near the Santa Ana Civic Center noticed a dark brown, 1978 Ford van cruising up and down the block, police said.

“The van looked suspicious,” Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said. “We got calls that the van was going back and forth” along the 1100 block of West Walnut Street.

One anonymous caller told a police dispatcher that the van may have been stolen, Police Lt. Robert Helton said.

Santa Ana police spotted the van carrying two men. The officers ran a computer check and found that the van had been reported stolen in Costa Mesa, Helton said. The officers then turned on their lights and tried to stop the driver as he headed for Bristol Street and Civic Center Drive, Helton said.

But the van then sped north along Bristol to the Garden Grove Freeway, running several red lights, Helton said. Three Santa Ana patrol cars followed the van at speeds reaching 95 m.p.h. to the Costa Mesa Freeway and then to the Riverside Freeway, calling the California Highway Patrol for help.

A Costa Mesa helicopter joined in the chase as law enforcement officials, their lights flashing, followed the van eastbound toward Corona.

The cars “followed along, keeping a safe distance behind the van,” Helton said. “From a policy standpoint, we let the vehicle continue along its way. We do not become involved in forcing people off the road (to stop them) or anything of that nature.”

Patrol cars and the helicopter then chased the van to Interstate 15 in Corona, where the fleeing driver turned south and headed toward Mexico, Helton said. The driver reached speeds at almost 100 m.p.h. along the almost-deserted freeway, Helton said.

Otherwise, he added, “the driver did not drive recklessly. He did not endanger the lives of others.”

Along the way, as many as three CHP cars joined the long chase as the van sped through Riverside and San Diego counties.

The chase ended after midnight when the van reached the border at San Ysidro and crossed into Mexico, apparently without resistance.

“They just disappeared” into Tijuana, Helton said.

CHP Officer Peter Herrera, the department’s liaison with Mexican border officials, said that it was unclear whether the suspects were arrested after they crossed the border. He had not received any information by late Thursday.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Gary Webster said that the department had not heard if the van was recovered in Mexico.