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Jan 3, 2008 7:24 am US/Pacific
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Alleged Drunk Driver Arrested After Car Flips Over
COSTA MESA, Calif. (CBS) ―
Huntington Beach police officers chasing a man who had fled from the scene of a traffic stop bumped his SUV, causing it roll over onto its roof in Costa Mesa on Thursday, authorities said.
James Edward Spurgin, 49, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana in stable condition with a laceration to his head and abrasions to his back and arms following the rollover caused by the police PIT maneuver, said Huntington Beach police Lt. Steve Bushhousen.
The chase began around 12:30 a.m. at Victoria Street and American Avenue when a Huntington Beach police officer initiated a traffic stop on a driver in a 1989 Chevrolet Blazer, Bushhousen said.
While the officer was speaking with the driver, Spurgin sped away and a chase began, he said.
The pursuit went on for several minutes through streets in Costa Mesa and parts of Newport Beach, Bushhousen said.
It ended at Fair Drive just east of Fairview Road in Costa Mesa when officers initiated a PIT maneuver, sending the Blazer spinning into the south curb of Fair Drive, which caused it to roll over onto its roof, he added.
Spurgin was booked for evading police, driving under the influence and possession of narcotics paraphernalia, Bushhousen said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)