MARIPOSA COUNTY — A high speed chase on Highway 49 North in the wee hours of this morning ended with the recovery of one stolen vehicle, and one suspect on the run.
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 1:36 a.m., the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office received a BOL (Be-On-the-Lookout) for a stolen vehicle out of Merced County that was being tracked, using OnStar, into Mariposa County.
At approximately 1:50 a.m., deputies located the 2015 Chevrolet truck in the Bear Valley Area, and attempted an enforcement stop at the intersection of Bear Valley Road and State Highway 49 North.
The stolen vehicle then accelerated at a high rate of speed, says the Sheriff’s Office, continuing south on Highway 49 North, slamming on its brakes several times in an attempt to cause a traffic collision with responding deputies.
The driver of the stolen vehicle then made an abrupt maneuver in the 6600 block of Highway 49 North, crashing through a fence and gate, and continuing off-road through the open field, ultimately crashing through a barbed wire fence, which disabled the vehicle.
An Hispanic man in his late 20, wearing a red zip-up sweatshirt with a hood and blue jeans, jumped out of the truck and ran into the surrounding brush.
A .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol was located inside the vehicle.
The California Highway Patrol is handling the crash investigation.
