New video shows police chase through rural Vacaville
The California Highway Patrol has released new footage showing the conclusion of a high-speed pursuit that started in American Canyon and ended in rural Vacaville over the weekend.
Solano NewsNet was the first to report on the pursuit that wound its way through Solano County on Saturday.
Around 3 p.m., police in American Canyon attempted to stop the driver of a black Jeep for an unspecified traffic violation. The driver took off, leading police on a short pursuit through that city and central Solano County before officers lost sight of the vehicle around the truck scales in Cordelia.
A short time later, sheriff’s deputies police monitoring the chase caught sight of the Jeep just outside Fairfield, but they decided not to pursue it because the driver was speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour and there was significant traffic on Interstate 80 at the time, according to dispatches reviewed by Solano NewsNet.
Instead, officers requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol’s Air Operations Unit in Napa. A CHP helicopter was dispatched to north Solano County to help locate and stop the vehicle.
CHP pilots discovered the car speeding through the unincorporated community of Elmira just outside rural Vacaville. They provided rolling updates to Solano County deputies and police from Vacaville until they could arrive on the scene.
As officers tracked from the sky, the driver of the Jeep decided to ditch the vehicle along Lewis Road. He ran into an orchard, but video provided by the CHP on Sunday showed he was not able to blend in with the surrounding areas thanks to the infrared camera attached to the helicopter.
He was discovered by a Vacaville police K9 a few minutes later. The driver, who has still not been identified, was treated at an area hospital for a dog bite wound. A few hours later, he was turned over to American Canyon police to face charges there. He is also expected to face charges in Solano County related to reckless driving, according to a source.
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