A man has been arrested after a series of car thefts and high-speed chases that spread over three Southern California Counties.
The Orange County Register reports that on the morning of Monday, August 5th at approximately 9:45 a.m. an officer with the California Highway Patrol pulled over a motorist in Riverside County.
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While being cited, the man stole the CHP patrol cruiser, crashing it in a residential neighborhood north of Rancho Road in Temecula, abandoning the patrol vehicle. He then carjacked a Lexus and took off into San Diego County where he used surface streets and the 15 freeway before getting into a four-vehicle crash. There were no injuries reported.
The fugitive driver then ditched the Lexus he was in and stole a Toyota Prius that had the keys left in the ignition. The driver headed northbound on the 5 Freeway into Orange County.
The CHP was finally able to catch up to the driver in Mission Viejo at approximately 11:30 a.m., and he was taken into custody.
Authorities have identified the suspect as Adolfo Makana Moreno Jr., 20
CHP Officer Mike Lassig told the media in a statement that the CHP patrol cruiser was recovered after the incident and all of its equipment, including firearms, had been accounted for.
Moreno is currently facing several charges including battery, vehicle theft, suspicion of reckless evasion of a police officer, carjacking, failure to stop at the site of an accident, and other related charges.
The chase involved CHP officers from Temecula, San Juan Capistrano, Oceanside offices. Ground and air units from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the pursuit of Moreno.
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