Police Chase Car 130 Miles to Border

At least one person led police on a high-speed chase from Newport Beach to Mexico on Saturday night, finally crashing through the international border at 120 m.p.h., authorities said.

California Highway Patrol dispatchers in San Diego and Orange County said two suspects were arrested in Tijuana in connection with the 130-mile chase, which began about 7:35 p.m. and lasted more than an hour and a half. Newport Beach police, however, said they could not confirm the arrests late Saturday.

Newport Beach Police Lt. Doug Fletcher also said he was only aware of one suspect in the car, a Toyota Celica Supra.

Fletcher said that suspect, described as a 30-year-old male, forced his way into a home on Villa Point Drive in Newport Beach around 7:25 p.m. He said a resident in the home pushed the suspect back out and called police. Police did not identify the suspect or the resident.

The chase started at 7:35 p.m. when police arrived and the suspect jumped into his car and sped north on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach. It ended about 9:20 p.m. when the vehicle reached the border. Authorities said the cars in the chase exceeded 100 m.p.h. the entire distance.

Fletcher said the suspect is wanted by Newport Beach police for battery, failure to stop for an officer and possibly unlawful entry.

“We are not sure what his motive was for forcing his way into the home,” Fletcher said. “He got into his car, took off, and the chase was on.”

The vehicle was registered to an owner in Huntington Beach, but the car was not reported stolen, police said.

Irvine police said the driver entered the southbound San Diego Freeway from Jamboree Road with two Newport Beach police units already in pursuit.

California Highway Patrol officers joined the chase on the freeway in San Clemente for the 66-mile distance from Oceanside to Tijuana, said a spokesperson for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Helicopters from police departments in Newport Beach Police and San Diego were involved in the chase. Newport Beach police also trailed CHP units to the international border in case the suspect was apprehended, police said.

The CHP is required to end all chases at the Mexican border, said a dispatcher at department headquarters in San Diego County. Mexican authorities could not be reached for comment on whether they were trying to apprehend the suspect.

“Sometimes the (Mexican) federales will shoot them and other times they let them go,” the dispatcher said of suspects who flee across the international border.

It was the second high-speed chase for Orange County police in two days. Friday, police chased a suspect who assaulted a taxi driver and stole his cab. That 25-mile chase ended in a shoot-out in Laguna Hills, injuring the suspect.