Drunk driving suspect leads deputies on high-speed chase through Bakersfield
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
A suspected drunk driver led authorities on a high-speed chase through Bakersfield Saturday night, according to a sheriff's department news release that alleges the driver tried to run over a deputy when the suspect was unable to drive his vehicle into a canal.
The encounter began at about 11 p.m. when a deputy watched a vehicle blow through a red light at Potomac and Mt. Vernon avenues, the news release states.
The deputy attempted to pull over the vehicle but the driver ignored the emergency lights and siren, instead sparking a pursuit that reached speeds of up to 90 mph, according to the release.
At a canal entrance on Akers Road, the vehicle rammed a fence repeatedly, "apparently attempting to gain access to the canal," the release states. It says deputies exited their patrol vehicles at that point but the suspect turned around his vehicle and drove toward them.
"A deputy was forced to jump out of the way of the suspect's fleeing vehicle to avoid being hit," the release says.
It states that a dead end in the 6900 block of Oak Forest Court, south of Panama Lane and west of Wible Road, forced the vehicle to stop, and the suspect fled on foot and jumped a fence into the back yard of a nearby residence. Deputies determined that the suspect entered the residence through a rear sliding glass door, and so they forced their way into the home, where he surrendered without further incident, according to the release.
Bakersfield resident Raul Gomez, 35, was arrested and held on suspicion of felony evading, assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, hit and run and driving under the influence, the release says.
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