Suspect arrested after vehicle chase
A man from Reno, Nevada, is suspected of stealing a woman’s Jeep Cherokee near downtown Sonora before leading law enforcement on a highspeed chase Tuesday night through Tuolumne County that culminated in his arrest.
Ryan Bonnett, 35, remained behind bars at the Dambacher Detention Center in Sonora on $50,000 bail as of Wednesday afternoon, county jail officials said. He was booked at 8:37 p.m. Tuesday on suspicion of evading police, vehicle theft, grand theft and receiving stolen property, all felonies.
California Highway Patrol put out a news release at 9:32 a.m. Wednesday detailing some of the events leading up to Bonnett’s arrest.
The release stated that CHP’S Sonora-area office was notified at 8:11 p.m. Tuesday that the county Sheriff’s Office was in pursuit of a Jeep Cherokee that had recently been stolen out of Sonora.
CHP was requested to take over the pursuit at 8:23 p.m. as the Jeep was driving west on Tuolumne Road North near Portofino Road, according to the release.
Officers pursued the suspect for about 15 minutes at speeds reach
ing more than 85 mph before the Jeep eventually came to a stop on Highway 108 west of Peaceful Oak Road in East Sonora, the release stated.
Questions regarding the theft of the vehicle were deferred to the Sonora Police Department, while questions regarding the start of the pursuit and other information about the suspect were deferred to the county Sheriff’s Office.
Sonora Police Chief Turu Vanderwiel said in a brief phone interview Wednesday morning a woman called the department about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday saying she saw someone unknown to her jump into her Jeep Cherokee on Steffen Lane and take off after she had left the keys inside.
Vanderwiel said she reported last seeing him heading toward the downtown area. He said any recent contacts the department has had with Bonnett were “fairly recent and not too frequent.”
As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, the county Sheriff’s Office had not yet responded to questions sent via email regarding how, when and where the pursuit started, why Bonnett was in the area, and whether he had any warrants or past convictions.