Police identify 1 suspect in a string of Valley burglaries
A high-speed pursuit that spanned the Valley on Friday led police to identify at least one man who they say is a suspect in a string of Goodyear burglaries.
The chase ended when the fleeing vehicle crashed into a home, and as many as three men fled on foot.
Police later identified one of the men as Bobby Ortega, 25.
The pursuit began at about noon, when Goodyear police received a report of a reckless driver in a green Dodge Dakota pickup truck, said Goodyear police Lt. Jeff Rogers.
When Goodyear police approached the truck in a neighborhood near Pebble Creek Parkway and Indian School Road, it sped off, leading Goodyear police to pursue the vehicle.
Authorities matched the de- scription with a vehicle suspected in a series of at least 12 Goodyear burglaries and home invasions.
A man suspected in the burglaries had been known to carry a gun, said Lisa Kutis of the Goodyear Police Department.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Carrick Cook said the pursuit continued from Goodyear into eastbound Interstate 10.
Cook said the chase reached speeds in excess of 110 mph.
The pickup then took the 16th Street exit off I-10 in Phoenix, Rogers said.
The pickup crashed into a house west of 16th and Portland streets.
No one inside the house was injured, authorities said.
Two men suspected of being in the truck, and possibly a third, then ran away, Cook said.
Goodyear police, Phoenix police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety continued to search for the men using their own patrols and K-9 units from more than three agencies, including one from Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.
“We consider the men to be armed and dangerous,” Rogers said.
Rogers said a man in the truck has been suspected of being linked to a string of burglaries that began in January in the Goodyear area.
Police agencies restricted traffic in a section of Phoenix from 16th to 12th streets and I-10 to Roosevelt Street, Cook said.
The restrictions were lifted Friday evening.