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A woman hijacked a California Highway Patrol car in Sunol at 3:40 Monday afternoon, leading officers on a high speed chase on northbound Interstate 680 until she flipped the patrol car over in an embankment near the Stoneridge Drive exit, according to authorities.
The woman, identified as 19-year-old Itse Murillo Orozco of San Jose, had been the passenger in a 1995 Acura Integra traveling on the freeway that a highway patrol car signaled to pull over in Fremont. Instead of pulling over, the male driver, identified as 26-year-old Miguel Velasquez also of San Jose, continued driving at about 70 to 80 mph and then suddenly exited off the Calaveras Road exit in Sunol, according to CHP spokesman Steve Creel.
Officers then used a maneuver with the patrol car to stop the vehicle, which worked, but then both the driver and the passenger fled the scene. Creel said officers tasered Orozco and put her in handcuffs and sat her in the backseat of the patrol car.
Meanwhile, officers pursued the Velasquez on foot. During that time, the Orozco somehow wiggled her arms in front of her, hopped into the driver’s seat of the patrol car and sped off, hightailing it on I-680 north into Pleasanton, Creel said.
Officers followed the hijacked patrol car north until Orozco swung across all lanes in an attempt to exit at Stoneridge Drive and flipped the car into a ditch just before the off-ramp. She got out of the car and started running, but a deputy was able to apprehend her after tasering her. Orozco and Velasquez were taken to ValleyCare Medical Center for evaluation, released, and taken to Santa Rita Jail.
Creel said they were booked for stolen vehicles, as the Acura was also stolen, felony pursuit and resisting arrest. Velasquez was also charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance, DUI and possession of burglary tools.
The incident, which snarled traffic in both directions of I-680, was extremely unusual, according to Creel.
“What was unique was the aggressiveness displayed by both, so we’re looking into their backgrounds to see if they have any prior records,” Creel said.
No other cars were involved in the incident and authorities are investigating how the woman was able to escape.
I hate to say something so harsh, but people this dumb don’t deserve to be in the gene pool.
My daughter and driving north on 680 and saw the hijacked car (and the other cards in pursuit) fly by us. We didn’t see the hijacked car flip over, but saw one patrol car pass us on the right shoulder then park the car on the side of the Stoneridge exit ramp. Sure glad I wasn’t running a minute early!
Excuse me, but unless this woman was a double-jointed alien (from another species, no reflection on her resident status), there is no way she could have “wiggled her arms over her head” while in handcuffs. Try it at home folks. I think the officer is wrong and that she must have *stepped* through the handcuffs.
?
Furthermore, it’s out-of-the-ballpark statements like the “wiggled her arms over her head” in the article that occasionally have people wondering whether their law enforcement officers are playing with a full deck or whether they were sadly mis-quoted by the press.
This incident reminds me of the time when I accompanied Hillary and we both had to dodge bullets as we scampered across the tarmack! It was a close call…whew…
To bad she wasn’t ejected and crushed by the CHP vehicle. It would say the taxpayers a lot of money.
Ms. Pelletier – Thank you for editing the story late last evening to read “somehow wiggle her arms in front of her” after reading the comments above. You must have agreed that it was pretty preposterous the way it was written originally.
I was in the first car that got cut off the at the Stoneridge exit by the hijacked car. It was dramatic and scary to say the least. After all, it was less than feet away from clipping my car. I feel lucky, somewhat. I have to say even driving safely may not guarantee you will be safe in on the road. I thinks that police, chp, could have been able to catch up with the driver eventually without risking others by the chase.
Whatever Cholo said must have been really bad for Jeb to delete it.
The very next post says “it’s too bad she wasn’t crushed by the CHP
to save taxpayer money”
come one Jeb. Your slippin.
I’m glad those morons got caught. honestly i wish the worst for them. they stole my brother’s car the acura described above, he hella liked that car and they just took it like that, they stole it on friday morning. but it’s over now hahaha!
Who says Pleasanton is boring? We’ve got our own Smokey and The Bandit thing goin’…. <grin>
in response to comment made by “Huh?”, I don’t recall any mention of “residence” or “resident status” mentioned in the article. The article did not say what city they resided. (?) Would it really matter? I’m just glad they got caught.
Thanks to Janet for being the first news paper to report on this incident. Now that’s good reporting.