Driver Arrested After 35-Mile Freeway Chase

A Chula Vista woman with her two small children and a family dog in the car led authorities on a 35-mile chase along the Santa Ana Freeway during the morning rush hour Monday, authorities said.

Veronica O. Hernandez, 23, was arrested at 9:15 a.m. for reckless driving and child endangerment near the 4th Street exit after a chase that began in San Clemente, California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson said.

With Hernandez were her 4-year-old daughter, her 1-year-old son and a small brown dog. There were no injuries.

When questioned, Hernandez showed a “very flip attitude,” Johnson said. “She said she just didn’t want to stop. Her little 4-year-old girl thought they were on their way to church. The children did not look afraid.”

Officers said a tan Chevrolet Blazer going 70 m.p.h. passed them just south of San Clemente about 8:50 a.m. They “initiated a traffic stop, and that’s when she accelerated even faster,” Johnson said.

Northbound traffic on the freeway was light, and Hernandez was able to drive up to 100 m.p.h., sometimes using the center divider and the shoulders of the road to evade arrest.

Near the Costa Mesa Freeway transition, congestion forced her to slow to about 15 m.p.h. Santa Ana CHP units then surrounded the Blazer, forcing it to a complete stop at the 4th Street exit.

Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and charges of reckless driving and evading arrest, Johnson said. She was being held Monday at Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

The children were taken to the Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange, and the dog was placed with Orange County Animal Control while officials tried to notify Hernandez’s relatives.