Ojai Parolee in Jail After Chase in Stolen Van
A 32-year-old parolee from Ojai is in jail after leading Ventura police on a high-speed chase down Harbor Boulevard in a stolen vehicle late Monday morning.
The suspect, Michael Thomas Gaussiran, was spotted by police about 11:15 a.m. at Marina Park driving a 1989 Volkswagen van that had been reported stolen by Santa Barbara resident Leland Stearns.
When Gaussiran attempted to flee the area, officers pursued him south on Harbor Boulevard toward Oxnard. After running several red lights, he abandoned the vehicle at the bridge over the Santa Clara River and fled on foot into the river bottom.
Officers called in a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopter and a Ventura police K-9 unit in an attempt to locate Gaussiran, who was hiding in the river bottom’s dense undergrowth. He was sniffed out by the police dogs a short time later and taken into custody.
Gaussiran was being held at the Ventura County Jail on Monday night on suspicion of vehicle theft, evading an officer and violating parole. He was denied bail because of the parole violation.
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