Moving Van Driver Held After Chase

The driver of an 18-wheel Mayflower moving truck allegedly involved in a minor hit-and-run accident led Glendora police on a 65-mile high-speed chase along three freeways and through two counties Sunday night before he ran off the road and was arrested.

The driver, identified as John Durham, 41, of Carmel, Ind., was rushed to Pleasant Valley Hospital in Ventura County, where he was reported in stable condition after being bitten by a police dog during his arrest.

Police said he will be booked for investigation of a variety of felony offenses--including hit-and-run, assault on a police officer, evading arrest and reckless driving.

Glendora Police Lt. Leonard Pihlak said the chase began shortly before 7:20 p.m., when Durham allegedly sped away from the scene of the hit-and-run accident with another vehicle in the 1000 block of South Prospero Drive and began pushing his rig into another truck.

“When the first officer came up there, he found the truck leaving,” Pihlak said, “and the chase was on.”

During the chase, Pihlak said, Durham tried to run a police unit off the road, forcing the officer to “take evasive action to avoid getting creamed.”

The empty 18-wheeler, which stretched more than 40 feet, also struck a small Toyota car, Pihlak said. The driver was unhurt.

“He was doing 80 m.p.h. on the freeway and 50 to 60 m.p.h. on surface streets. We’re very lucky that no one was killed,” Pihlak said.

After brushing the Toyota, Pihlak said, Durham drove onto the westbound 210 Freeway, transferred to the 134 Freeway and merged onto the 101 Freeway before he ran off the freeway near Thousand Oaks.

Police said they used the dog to force Durham from the cab.

“He didn’t want to get out of the truck,” Glendora Police Officer Ken Tucker explained.