Man, 32, Held After Chase in Carjacking of Minivan

A 32-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of carjacking a minivan in Valencia and leading sheriff’s deputies on a short chase before abandoning the vehicle in Ventura, authorities said.

Michael A. Neighbors was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. in a parking lot on Seaward Avenue next to the Ventura Freeway, Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Higgason said.

Three Ventura County sheriff’s deputies chased down Neighbors through the parking lot and over a chain-link fence, Higgason said.

While handcuffed inside the patrol car, Neighbors purposely slammed his head several times against a glass partition between the front and back seats and then kicked out one the car’s rear passenger windows, Higgason said.

Authorities said they would be testing Neighbors for possible drug use.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Guy Stewart suffered minor cuts on his arm when he brushed it against broken glass while removing Neighbors from the patrol car, witnesses said.

The minivan was taken about 5 p.m. from the parking lot of a community swimming pool in the 24000 block of Oakvale Drive in Valencia, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Richard Larue.

No weapon was used in the carjacking and no one was injured, Larue said.

A Ventura County deputy spotted the stolen van on California 126 near the Ventura Freeway and chased it for about two miles, deputies said.

The vehicles did not exceed 65 mph, because freeway traffic was heavy at the time, Higgason said.