CHP stolen vehicle chase ends in Highway 17 crash, fire

A California Highway Patrol pursuit of individuals tied to a series of Watsonville car break-ins early Wednesday ended in a Highway 17 crash and three arrests.

SCOTTS VALLEY — A California Highway Patrol pursuit of individuals tied to a series of Watsonville car break-ins early Wednesday ended in a Highway 17 crash and three arrests.

Officers were alerted to the break-ins and were told the perpetrators were associated with a silver sedan. The officers observed a silver sedan traveling shortly before 2 a.m. on Highway 1 near Freedom Boulevard and determined that this vehicle, an Infiniti G35, had been reported stolen.

According to the CHP, the car’s driver failed to yield to the officers and recklessly led them on a pursuit.

Assisting CHP officers placed a spike strip in the car’s path, near the Mount Hermon Road exit, resulting in a flat tire. The Infiniti ultimately crashed into the highway’s center median and stopped north of the Summit Road exit before catching fire, according to the CHP. Officers on the scene assisted passengers of the vehicle and put out the fire, the CHP said.

The CHP does not release the names of people it arrests while cases remain under investigation. However, the agency booked Luis Fernando Anaya-Castillo into the Santa Cruz County Jail on Wednesday morning, according to jail records. Anaya-Castillo, 24, remained held without bail on suspicion of evading police, driving a car without the owner’s consent, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.