Reckless driver engages police in car chase

On Saturday, June 29, 2019 at about 6:2pm, a police officer was heading west along Chalan Monsignor Guerrero Road while doing routine patrol when he noticed a vehicle traveling down As Terlaje Hill that was passing other vehicles at a high rate of speed.

As the vehicle (ACS 399) got closer to the police vehicle, the police officer noticed that vehicle was being driven by a man who was not wearing his seatbelt.

The officer immediately activated his emergency lights and pursued the vehicle. Upon reaching the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Waterloo area, the officer was directly behind the vehicle when he noticed that the vehicle began to gain speed. The officer then called Department of Public Safety central by radio and relayed that he was pursuing a red sedan by Chalan Kiya and was heading west.

As the sedan approached the Chalan Kiya traffic signal lights, it swerved to the “must turn right” lane to pass and proceeded to run the red light as it continued west. The vehicle continued to overtake and gain speed as it approached the traffic light in front of Atkins Kroll Toyota. Nearly colliding with vehicles as the light was red, the vehicle maneuvered through the intersection as it made its way onto Beach Road and headed north. As the vehicle continued to gain speed, the officer noted his speedometer to be at 90 mph while the subject vehicle continued to gain speed.

Upon reaching the intersection, the subject vehicle then made a right turn into Quartermaster Road, before it skidded and nearly collided with another vehicle before proceeding south. While on Chalan Pale Arnold, the vehicle continued to gain speed until it reached the Chalan Kiya traffic light where it displayed red. The vehicle then switched over to the oncoming lane to pass the vehicles in the intersection and continued to occupy the oncoming lane until it passed the Chalan Kiya Mobil gas station. 

The subject vehicle continued to travel east and up As Terlaje hill at a speed of 80 mph. At the traffic light in front of the Northern Marianas College, the vehicle then ran the red light and continued traveling east as it overtook several vehicles on Isa Drive before making a U-turn at the Kagman traffic light. Other units joined the pursuit as they made their way through Papago toward San Vicente. The vehicle continued to travel along Isa Drive before making a left turn onto Tun Herman Pan Road and headed south. While units continued to pursuit the vehicle, road conditions were wet and bumpy. The vehicle continued before making a right turn along Airport Road and headed south at an excessive speed. At about 6:40pm, officers lost sight of the vehicle and radioed all units to be on the lookout for a red sedan bearing the license plate ACS 399.

At approximately 6:56pm, DPS central received a call from an unidentified caller reporting a suspicious vehicle parked at a residence in lower Dandan. At about 6:58pm, officers arrived at the reported location and confirmed with central that the vehicle was the red sedan and was parked at the residence. At about 7:2pm, officers arrested the driver of the red sedan and transported the individual to the Department of Corrections for booking and processing. At about 7:33pm, the red vehicle was impounded. (PR)