Motorist in Custody After 35-Mile Chase

A man described by California Highway Patrol officers as delusional because of a mix of psychiatric medication and alcohol was being held in jail Wednesday after leading three officers on a 35-mile chase the previous day from Ventura to downtown Santa Barbara.

Roger Hess, 47, told officers that he did not stop because he thought he was getting a police escort, said CHP Officer Curt Rhyn.

“He had been drinking and taking the medication and I would say he was . . . delusional,” Rhyn said.

Rhyn, riding a CHP motorcycle, tried to pull Hess over for speeding about 3:15 p.m. near Seaward Avenue in Ventura, but Hess headed northbound on the Ventura Freeway. Another motorcycle officer and an officer in a CHP patrol car joined the chase, which ranged in speeds from 65 to 85 mph, Rhyn said.

“[Hess] was waving at us, waving at the cars he was passing by . . . He just kept going until he got to Santa Barbara,” Rhyn said.

Hess took the Cabrillo Boulevard exit into the city’s downtown and was stopped on the corner of Cabrillo and Milpas Street. But he refused to get out of the car or unlock it.

“I had to break the window and pry his fingers off the steering wheel,” Rhyn said. “He was screaming all sorts of things like ‘I’m on a top-secret mission’ and stuff like that.”

Hess is being held at the Santa Barbara County Jail on failure to yield, speeding and resisting-arrest charges. He is being evaluated by mental health officials there, Rhyn said.