Police Arrest Driver After 3-City Chase : Crime: Stolen car is stopped after tires are punctured. Car may be linked to robberies.

A transient who led police on a chase through three Orange County cities was arrested after officers plastered a road with spikes to puncture his tires, authorities said.

The pursuit, which started just after midnight Thursday in Santa Ana, ended nearly 50 minutes later on a Huntington Beach street when the spikes worked, said Santa Ana police Lt. Robert Helton.

Arrested was Manuel Garcia Jr., 27, formerly of Fountain Valley but with no current address.

A female passenger was questioned and released. Garcia, who is on parole for burglary, is being held on suspicion of possession of a stolen car and evading arrest, Helton said.

Two Santa Ana police officers, who were slightly injured when their cruisers crashed during the chase, were treated at a local hospital, Helton said. Both patrol cars were heavily damaged.

The chase began at 12:32 a.m. in the 100 block of West Borchard Avenue when an officer did a computer check of a Ford Tempo that matched the description of a car used in recent robberies. The check revealed that the license plates on the car had been reported stolen March 8 in Costa Mesa, while the car itself had been stolen in Santa Ana, the lieutenant said.

The driver failed to stop, triggering a chase through Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and into Huntington Beach at speeds up to 50 m.p.h., he said.

Both of the car’s front tires blew out at Springdale Street and Edinger Avenue after it ran over the spikes. Garcia drove the car several more blocks, stopping at Springdale Street and Warner Avenue.

Police, anticipating that the driver would head there, had stopped traffic in the immediate area before laying down the spikes to stop the car.

Investigators have yet to determine whether Garcia is linked to the robberies in which the Tempo was used. He will be arraigned today and then moved from City Jail to County Jail.