Vehicle vandal arrested after high-speed pursuit

Westmorland Police arrested a 17-year-old teenage boy who was involved in a high-speed chase late Sunday night.

The identity of the minor was not released and was believed to be involved in vandalizing several vehicles in Calipatria with a pellet gun before the chase.

Westmorland PD was the arresting agency for the incident that started in Calipatria when the police department there received a call of shots fired around 11 p.m.

Calipatria Police Sgt. Eric Trevino said Monday the call came from a resident in the 600 block of South International of shots fired Sunday night.

The same resident gave a vehicle description associated with the alleged shooting.

Trevino said they requested assistance from Westmorland Police, and as a Westmorland Police officer traveled to Calipatria, came across the suspected vehicle.

According to Westmorland Police Chief Perry Monita, he said the Westmorland officer attempted to stop the suspected vehicle, but the driver instead sped off, and the officer pursued.

Both the suspect and officer lost control of their vehicles at the intersection of Gentry and Walker roads, driving into a canal on the side of the intersection.

Monita said the officer sustained minor injuries.

The suspect fled on foot into nearby agricultural fields where law enforcement from the county Sheriff’s Department, Brawley Police and US Border Patrol assisted in arresting the driver, hiding in some hay bales about 1 mile away from the accident.

Monita also said they believe a second suspect was in the vehicle but wasn’t located.

He said the suspected vehicle had been reported stolen in Brawley earlier in the day, however, is owned by the suspect’s grandmother who then declined to press charges against the teen.

Monita said the department will be filing charges against the teen associated with the chase and injuries sustained by the officer.

Trevino added that the department received six calls Monday morning to report their vehicle windows were vandalized.

Monita said a pellet gun was found inside the suspect’s vehicle but doesn’t know if the pellet gun was used to vandalize those vehicles.

Trevino added Calipatria PD is investigating if the pellet gun was used for the vandalism and will be filing charges against the teen after their investigation.

The teen is not in custody at this time.