Robbery Suspect Leads Santa Ana Police on Hourlong Chase

SANTA ANA (CNS) - A suspect in a pair of street robberies led Santa Ana police on a roughly hourlong pursuit today before a spike strip flattened tires on the SUV he was driving, prompting him to pull over and surrender.

Police responded about 4 p.m. to calls of two street robberies at Hickory and Walnut streets, and while on the way they spotted a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe suspected of being connected to the holdups, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.

Police tried to stop the driver of the SUV at First and Townsend streets, but he refused to pull over and led police on a chase that briefly went onto the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and along surface streets. While slowly moving north on Main Street, the vehicle rolled over a police spike strip, slowly releasing air from the tires, Bertagna said.

“The spike strips worked perfectly, we got all four tires,” Bertagna said.

The pursuit ended at Chestnut Avenue and Halladay Street, where the suspect pulled to the curb. After about 10 minutes, he got out of the vehicle and was taken into custody around 5:15 p.m., Bertagna said.

The suspect, identified as Santos Ramirez, 25, of Santa Ana, was booked on suspicion of grand theft auto with a prior offense, felony evading, driving under the influence of drugs, being an unlicensed driver, a probation violation and gang-related offenses, police said.

Photo: Santa Ana PD


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