Man Jailed After Chase, Shootout With Deputies

A Laguna Niguel man was arrested early Monday morning near the ninth hole of a golf course after a wild chase and a brief gun battle with Orange County sheriff’s deputies, authorities said.

Although no one was badly hurt in the shootout, Steven Matthew Strother, 35, suffered cuts and other injuries while fleeing, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The pursuit started about 11:40 p.m. Sunday, when sheriff’s deputies in a helicopter spotted a car with its lights off driving away from the scene of an attempted burglary at a home in Laguna Niguel, Amormino said.

Sheriff’s patrol cars tried to pull the car over, but the driver fled. Deputies broke off the pursuit when the car drove up an Interstate 5 offramp and headed south in the northbound lanes.

After several miles, the car got off the freeway and parked at a restaurant on El Camino Real. Strother jumped out of the car and ran in and out of the restaurant before breaking into a room at the nearby La Vista Inn Motel through a back window, Amormino said.

Deputies said Strother, armed with a handgun, ran in and out of three motel rooms, ordering an occupant out of one and breaking the back window of another with his fist.

Strother suffered serious cuts on his hand and stomach when he punched the window and then tried to crawl through the jagged frame, Amormino said.

Strother fired about six shots at deputies who caught up to him outside another motel, Amormino said. Deputies returned fire before Strother dropped his gun and ran, Amormino said.

He fled to the San Clemente Municipal Golf Course, where he was tackled and arrested by deputies.

Strother was booked into Orange County Jail, where he was treated for his injuries.

He was arrested on various charges, including suspicion of attempted murder, fleeing from police, attempted burglary and violation of parole.