Teens Arrested After Leading Ventura Police on Brief Chase

A high-speed pursuit through downtown Ventura ended Sunday afternoon when a minivan that police say was stolen ran into a chain-link gate at the city storage yard on Chrisman Avenue.

Three teenagers from Oxnard were arrested, and one was taken to the hospital with minor injuries when he was pinned underneath the gate after the vehicle crashed through it, authorities said.

About 3 p.m., Ventura Police Officer Tim Brooks spotted the van near the intersection of North Olive and Center streets. The three male occupants were flashing gang hand signs at pedestrians, authorities said.

“I decided to turn around and they sped away,” Brooks said.

With Brooks in pursuit, the van headed north on Olive to Bell Way where the driver turned east to Ventura Avenue.

The van headed south to Center Street. The driver then drove east to Cedar Street and then south to Poli Street, reaching speeds of 50 mph. Speeds increased to 65 as the van passed City Hall, officers said.

“He was blowing stop signs,” including one at California Street, Brooks said.

The pursuit continued east to Lincoln Drive and south on Chrisman, about 1 1/2 miles from where it started.

It ended when the van crashed into the chain-link gate at the city yard, officers said.

A woman who lives on Chrisman said after the van crashed into the gate the three occupants jumped out.

Two of them made it over, but the third was pinned underneath the gate after the still-moving van knocked it off its hinges and on top of the boy before coming to rest on top of the gate.

“They got chased down by their own car,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used.

The 15-year-old driver was arrested by Brooks and taken to Juvenile Hall on suspicion of auto theft, causing injury while evading a police officer, driving under the influence and causing injury, hit-and-run with injury, and resisting arrest.

A passenger, 18-year-old Juan Miguel Guzman, ran through a backyard on Vista Del Mar Drive before wading into a duck pond on Alessandro Drive, where officers arrested him, said Sgt. Larry White.

Guzman was booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of auto theft and resisting arrest.

The second passenger, a 16-year-old boy from Oxnard, lay pinned for about 10 minutes under the gate until Ventura firefighters used a jack to free him.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center and treated for abrasions on his face and a cut on his ear, White said.

The boy was later taken to Juvenile Hall on suspicion of auto theft and resisting arrest.

Officers said the van is registered to an Oxnard resident who reported it stolen Sunday morning.