Driver Arrested After Spike Strips Disable Car
For the second time in as many days, California Highway Patrol officers used spike strips Friday to stop a fleeing motorist on the Ventura Freeway.
Officers arrested 39-year-old Mark Ortiz Middaugh of La Habra near Santa Barbara.
The pursuit began about 6 a.m. near Cal State Channel Islands, said Capt. Miguel Colon of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Officers assigned to the Camarillo campus tried to stop Middaugh’s BMW after he ran a red light at Lewis and Pleasant Valley roads, Colon said.
Two spike strips were deployed in Ventura after Middaugh entered the northbound Ventura Freeway, but he continued driving until he lost control of the car just after Evans Avenue near Santa Barbara.
Middaugh attempted to flee after his car stopped but was quickly subdued by a sheriff’s canine unit, Colon said.
He was taken to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara for treatment of dog bites and chest pain, Colon said. Deputies expect to book him on suspicion of evading police when he is released, Colon said.
On Thursday, a 17-year-old boy led authorities on a three-county chase on the Ventura Freeway before he surrendered in Carpinteria.
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