Feb 28, 2008 10:20 pm US/Pacific
Suspected Car Thief Leads Chase Into Santa Monica
SANTA MONICA
A 23-year-old man was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of stealing a car, after an hour-long chase from south Oxnard into Santa Monica.
Marcelino Villali was seen driving the car with a stolen license plate near Saviers and Bard roads and refused to stop for police, Oxnard police Commander Steve Blanchard said.
Villali led them on a 15-minute chase in Oxnard before getting onto the southbound Ventura (101) Freeway, Blanchard said. California Highway Patrol officers took over the chase in Camarillo.
Villali drove on the Ventura and San Diego (405) freeways, before he got stuck in traffic in the McClure Tunnel on Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica.
The car, a green Honda Civic, had been stolen in Ventura, Blanchard said.
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