Suspect in Chase Was Sex Offender

A 20-year-old New Jersey man accused of leading California Highway Patrol officers on a freeway chase from Canoga Park to Ventura that closed the Ventura Freeway for three hours Thursday is a registered sex offender who was released from jail three months ago, officials said Friday.

Frank Anthony Gaudenzi Jr. of Rockaway, N.J., was arrested and booked on suspicion of evading police and driving a stolen 1995 Chevrolet Suburban when the chase and standoff ended shortly after 8 p.m. Gaudenzi’s bail is set at $50,000. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday at the Ventura County Courthouse.

According to Capt. Christopher Linne of the Morris County prosecutor’s office, Gaudenzi served 155 days in New Jersey’s Morris County jail after pleading guilty to possession of heroin and failure to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, which requires sex offenders to register with police so the communities they live in can be notified of their offenses.

Gaudenzi was released May 10, said Linne.

Thursday’s chase began shortly after 4 p.m. when LAPD officers from the West Valley Division attempted to stop Gaudenzi as he drove the SUV with its flashers blinking on Woodlake Avenue in Canoga Park, authorities said. He allegedly sped off and jumped onto the northbound Ventura Freeway.

Reaching speeds of more than 80 mph, the vehicle passed through heavy rush-hour traffic in the San Fernando Valley with LAPD officers in pursuit. CHP officers took over the chase in Thousand Oaks and deployed a spike strip as the vehicle sped toward downtown Ventura. The vehicle stopped on the northbound Ventura Freeway just south of the Seaward Avenue offramp.

Concerned that the driver might be armed, CHP officers quickly shut down the freeway, snarling traffic and leaving motorists stranded for more than three hours.

Gaudenzi allegedly waved a toy gun at officers and spoke to SWAT negotiators at length before leaving the vehicle, said CHP spokesman Quinn Fenwick.

“It was hard to understand what he was saying,” Fenwick said. “He wrote down some references to a girlfriend, but he wasn’t making a lot of sense.”