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The driver of a stolen vehicle led police on a high-speed chase from Gilroy to north Morgan Hill Friday before crashing and fleeing the scene on foot, according to authorities. As of about 12 p.m., officers on the scene were still searching for the driver of the vehicle which crashed near the intersection of U.S. 101 and Coyote Creek Golf Drive, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Herb Kellogg. The incident prompted Morgan Hill Unified School District staff to place Sobrato High School, on Burnett Avenue, on a “code blue” lockdown while the suspect was hiding out. But district staff said there were no apparent or immediate “safety concerns” to the students and staff on campus. The high-speed chase started in Gilroy, when a Gilroy police officer spotted the stolen vehicle on the road and began following it, Kellogg said. The officer briefly lost sight of the vehicle in the area of Masten Avenue, but caught up to it on the freeway. Police continued to chase the vehicle - described as a black Chrysler by emergency communications staff overheard on a police scanner - northbound on U.S. 101 until it crashed in the area of Coyote Creek Golf Drive. The driver - the only known occupant of the vehicle - fled the crash site on foot into the nearby Coyote Creek bed. The suspect is still under pursuit by officers at the scene, Kellogg said. “Multiple agencies are involved” in the search for the suspect, Kellogg said. Kellogg did not know why the stolen vehicle crashed, or if any other vehicles were involved. The accident and the alleged crime are under investigation. More details on this incident will be posted as they are available. 

Car insurance costs more in Gilroy than in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles, according to a recent study.In fact, the southernmost Santa Clara County city has the 17th highest insurance costs in the state.The average yearly premium in Gilroy is $1,882, or 13 percent above the $1,661 average price in California. For comparison, San Joseans pay $1,393; Los Angelenos pay $1,624 and San Franciscans pay $1,783.The study was done by ValuePenguin.com, a site that helps people manage personal finances. Researchers did the study using a 2011 Toyota Camry driven by a 30-year-old to determine the average in 142 California cities for $50,000 to $150,000 of coverage.Craig Casazza, who did the study in the New York-based company, said he was interested in insurance pricing because it’s a mandatory expense for car owners and can be a burden on people’s budgets.Why is Gilroy so expensive?Casazza said he could only speculate. He surveyed 20 companies for each city to determine the prices, but the companies keep their pricing methodology secret.“Generally prices are more expensive where there are more accidents,” he said. Car theft can also play a role.Big cities usually have higher prices, but Gilroy is higher than neighboring metropolises.However, it’s cheaper than Santa Clara at $1,896, Sunnyvale at $1,974, Oakland at $1,976 and Cupertino at $1,970.California’s most expensive insurance rates are in Paramount, near Compton, at $2,373 a year. The cheapest is Fullerton at $1,266.To read the study, go to www.valuepenguin.com.