One suspect was killed, one suspect was sent to a hospital and
two additional suspects were arrested after a car chase that
started on Hollister’s west side and ended when the suspects
crashed into a building in downtown, police said.
One suspect was killed, one suspect was sent to a hospital and two additional suspects were arrested after a car chase that started on Hollister’s west side and ended when the suspects crashed into a building in downtown, police said.
Just before 5 p.m., the men pulled in front of Mi Ranchito Market on San Juan Road, and two suspects rushed into the store holding handguns, Hollister police Sgt. David Westrick said. The suspects pointed the guns at the store’s clerk and demanded money before fleeing down the street.
The men went only a few hundred feet before stopping at 156 Plaza Gas Station, police said. There, three suspects entered the store with guns and demanded money.
The suspects took nearly $1,000 from Mi Ranchito Market and an unspecified amount from 156 Plaza Gas Station, Westrick said. The four men took off toward the coast in a black Honda before police arrived. Police quickly released a statement describing the getaway vehicle, and as the men neared San Juan Bautista on Highway 156, San Benito Sheriff Deputy Rich Brown identified the vehicle, Westrick said.
From there, Brown followed the vehicle through San Juan Bautista and onto U.S. 101 into Monterey County. Brown made the first attempt to pull the vehicle over before he relinquished the chase to the California Highway Patrol and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department because of jurisdiction, said San Benito County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler.
The officers followed the suspects into Salinas at more than 100 mph, Monterey County Commander Mike Richards said. The suspects eventually got off the freeway and went onto business streets.
Officers looked at trying to set up a police blockage but decided against it, Richards said.
“The people involved with the chase acted appropriately,” Richards said. “(The suspects) were a threat to the community and we needed to stop them.”
About 6 p.m. in Salinas’ downtown streets at a high speed, the driver lost control of the car and hit a parked car before going through a stoplight and crashing into a building, police said. The crash occurred on Romie Lane next to the Park Row shopping center, just west of South Main Street, according to the Salinas Californian.
Once the car stopped, one suspect tried to run but was quickly caught by officers, police said. Another suspect died at the scene and a third was rushed to a Bay Area hospital with head injuries, Westrick said. A fourth suspect was arrested. Hollister police are awaiting medical clearance to take the third suspect into custody, Westrick said.
No suspect names have been released.
