Nov 29, 2007 1:42 am US/Pacific
Suspected Car Thief, Burglar Arrested After Chase
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (CBS) ―
A 24-year-old suspected car thief was arrested following a car and foot chase in Palm Springs, which also led to the arrest of a burglary suspect, authorities said.
The chase begin at 12:17 p.m. Wednesday near the Cielo Vista Elementary School in the 600 block of South Paseo Dorotea, said Palm Springs police Sgt. Mitch Spike.
A patrol officer ran a license plate check on a silver Saturn cruising near the school and learned that it was a reported stolen vehicle, he said.
The officer attempted to make a traffic stop of the Saturn, which had a male driver and two female passengers inside. The driver fled and the officer pursued, Spike said.
The chase reached speeds of 55 mph and lasted about two minutes, until the car stopped in the area of Mesquite Avenue and El Placer Road, he said.
The driver fled on foot and the female passengers were detained, Spike said.
A man matching the description of the driver was spotted in the rear yard of a residence in the 700 block of South Mountain View Drive, near East Sunny Dunes Road, he said.
Officers saw the suspect crouched down talking on a cell phone before confronting him, Spike said.
The suspect was arrested and identified as Eric Andrew Bates of Whitewater, he said.
Officers believed that Bates was trying to arrange for someone to help him escape when they saw him on the phone, Spike said.
One of the officers called the last number Bates dialed and when it was answered, a male voice whispered, "Hey, man, where are you? The cops are after me!" The man on the phone gave his location and described the vehicle he was driving, a Kia sport utility vehicle, Spike said.
The officer, posing as Bates, told the man on the phone to come to Mountain View Drive to pick him up because the "cops were everywhere." When the man arrived, officers detained him, Spike said.
The man was identified as Gabriel Conrad Lerma, 28, of Cathedral City, he said.
The officer who made the phone call recognized the Kia sport utility vehicle as one that was reportedly used in a previous residential burglary, Spike said.
Officers found a purse and contents inside the Kia that had been taken during an auto burglary Saturday. A window punch was also found in Lerma's possession, he said.
Bates was being held at the Palms Springs Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. He will be charged with felony evading and possession of a stolen vehicle, Spike said.
Lerma is expected to be charged with accessory to a felony, possession of stolen property, and possession of burglary tools. He has not been booked, Spike said.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
WATER COOLER: Off Beat News
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