Gilroy-A drunk driver led Gilroy police on a six-mile chase,
boomeranging from Monterey Road south to Betabel Road and back,
before an officer rammed into his car, forcibly ending the
joyride.
Gilroy – A drunk driver led Gilroy police on a six-mile chase, boomeranging from Monterey Road south to Betabel Road and back, before an officer rammed into his car, forcibly ending the joyride.
Police first tried to curb Eric Daniel Aranda, 23, about 5:45pm Thursday afternoon as his silver Mazda veered wildly through the intersection of Luchessa and Monterey roads, nearly hitting an oncoming car. Aranda bolted to southbound Highway 101, hitting speeds topping 100 miles per hour as he tried to evade two Gilroy police cars and a California Highway Patrol vehicle, close behind him. At Betabel Road, Aranda reversed course, peeling northward on 101 back to Monterey Road. There, he hit a curb and lost control.
Before Cpl. Jim Callahan rammed into Aranda’s car, the 23-year-old tried to head southbound on the northbound ramp to Highway 101. The move damaged Callahan’s car, but ended the chase, halting Aranda for good.
“It’s much easier fixing a vehicle,” said Sgt. John Sheedy, “than the cost of injury or death to the general public.”
Police swarmed around the vehicle, ordering Aranda to exit. After the man failed three times to comply, officers smashed the side windows of his vehicle, and pulled him out. Aranda grappled with officers as they handcuffed him. He was arrested for driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, felony evasion and on warrants for felony evasion, resisting arrest, driving under the influence and battering a spouse.
Aranda, a Gilroy resident, was booked into the main jail in San Jose, without bail.
