Carjacking Suspect Arrested After Brief Chase

A Moorpark man was arrested after he allegedly stole a car, then ditched the vehicle and ran from police, officials said Sunday.

Frank Lopez, 27, is being held on charges of resisting arrest, carjacking and an outstanding parole violation warrant stemming from three counts of domestic violence, said Capt. Ken Warren of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The incident began about 9 p.m. Saturday when Jason Watson, 20, of Thousand Oaks looked out the lobby window of a Motel 6 in Newbury Park and saw a man stealing his car, officials said.

Watson ran outside and scuffled with the man, but was knocked to the ground, Warren said. As the car sped away, Watson leaped onto the hood, then fell to the pavement uninjured, Warren said.

Police spotted the car on the Ventura Freeway at Westlake Boulevard and followed it until other officers arrived to provide backup, Warren said.

The carjacker ditched the car and fled on foot across eight lanes of traffic, briefly losing sheriff’s deputies, officials said. Authorities called in a Sheriff’s Department helicopter and a K-9 unit and sealed off the area with roughly 20 patrol cars, including California Highway Patrol officers and Los Angeles and Ventura County deputies.

Lopez was spotted by a deputy in the 4500 block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and was arrested without incident, Warren said.

He was being held Sunday at the Ventura County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.