Man arrested after leading police on 2-county chase

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- A 33-year-old man who led police on a high-speed chase

from Anaheim on Tuesday morning found his way into Costa Mesa and Newport

Beach before heading to Huntington Beach, Long Beach and, eventually,

Compton, where it all ended in a crash, officials said.

In the end, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Dean Wills of

Whittier and Christie O’Brien, 25, of La Habra. Wills went solo in Costa

Mesa when he dropped off O’Brien and a gun before continuing the pursuit

that reached speeds of up to 110 mph.

Wills, a parolee, was charged with reckless driving, evading arrest

and possession of weapons, police said.

The hourlong pursuit began just after 10 a.m. when deputies made a

routine traffic stop near the Santa Ana Freeway in Anaheim, said Lt. John

Brimmage of the Sheriff’s Department.

Wills hopped onto the freeway, and then took the Costa Mesa Freeway

into the city, where he drove at speeds of up to 70 mph, said Costa Mesa

Police Lt. Dale Birney.

“It’s pure luck no one got hurt in our city or anywhere else,” he

said. “He was driving recklessly. He drove on the grass and went over

sidewalks.”

Birney said Wills raced through 19th Street, Newport Boulevard, Harbor

Boulevard, Adams Avenue and went westbound on Mesa Verde East. At the

corner of Mesa Verde and Palau Street, he stopped and let out O’Brien,

Birney said. Costa Mesa police detained her till sheriff’s deputies

arrived and arrested her, he said.

Wills “then drove further on Mesa Verde and then our helicopter unit

saw him lower his window and drop a gun at the corner of Club House”

Road, Birney said.

Brimmage said Wills then drove into Newport Beach, before taking Coast

Highway into Huntington Beach and Long Beach.

“He got into a collision with a car at the intersection of Wilmington

Avenue and Rosecrans in Compton, and that’s when it ended and he was

arrested,” Brimmage said.

No one was seriously hurt during the pursuit, he said.