DUI Suspect Arrested After Long Chase

A Lake Forest man who led police on a high-speed chase early Saturday jumped into the chilly waters of Mission Bay and was treated for mild hypothermia before he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, authorities said.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies spotted a black pickup truck parked suspiciously on Nogal in Mission Viejo about 3 a.m. and planned to question the driver. But as soon as the patrol lights were turned on, the motorist fled, traveling at speeds of about 90 mph down Marguerite Parkway, Sheriff’s Lt. Patrick Brunner said.

The suspect then drove south on Interstate 5, exiting at Clairemont Drive and driving to Mission Bay, about 55 miles south of the county line, California Highway Patrol Officer Phil Konstantin said. The man then got out of his truck and jumped into the 64-degree water near a boat ramp, “thinking he could elude the police that way,” a San Diego lifeguard spokesman said.

Several lifeguards and CHP officers captured the man and took him back to shore in a boat. He suffered mild hypothermia and was taken to Sharp Cabrillo Hospital in San Diego, where he was treated and released to police.

Investigators later identified him as 25-year-old Adam Beam, who is being held at the San Diego County Jail on suspicion of evading arrest and resisting arrest in addition to drunk driving, Konstantin said.