Teen flees, crashes on Gaviota Coast

ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A teen fleeing at high speeds from California Highway Patrol officers crashed and flipped a stolen Nissan Altima on Highway 101 north of Refugio State Beach this morning.
Officers clocked the 15-year-old driver at 107 mph as he drove northbound along the Gaviota Coast just before 8 a.m. and attempted to stop him, CHP Spokesman Don Clotworthy said.

The teen "slowed to approximately 80 mph, then accelerated rapidly to over 100 mph and attempted to flee the officer," Clotworthy said. "When the Nissan attempted to negotiate the sweeping right curve at Gaviota, the driver lost control and the Nissan rolled over numerous times."
After coming to rest on the right shoulder, the vehicle burst into flames, an officer taking the suspect into custody just as the vehicle became fully engulfed, Clotworthy said.
Santa Barbara County firefighters arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire and a 50 square-foot patch of nearby brush that also caught fire, County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow said, adding that the right lane was closed as crews cleaned up the scene.
The 15-year-old escaped with only a bruised left elbow, and after being evaluated at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, he was turned over to Sheriff's Department, which had been looking for the teen in connection with other crimes.
“We’re looking at the guy for some residential burglaries in Carpinteria,” Sheriff’s Spokesman Sgt. Erik Raney said.
Although he didn’t have specifics, he said the teen is suspected in several recent burglaries, with the latest likely occurring last night.
“We didn’t even know that the house where he had stolen the car from had been burglarized,” Sgt. Raney said, describing how Sheriff’s deputies called and woke up the car’s owner, who discovered the home had been broken into as well.
He said the teen, believed to be a Lompoc resident, was booked into Juvenile Hall for grand theft auto and residential burglary. Clotworthy said the CHP will also file charges of driving under the influence of drugs, vehicle theft and felony evading.

Photo credit: California Highway Patrol