2 Car-Theft Suspects Arrested After Chase

Police arrested two suspected car thieves early Sunday after they led officers on a car chase that began near Ventura High School and ended at the Ventura County Government Center close to the County Jail, authorities said.

Police said one of the suspects, Michael Salas Hernandez, 18, of Oxnard, was booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of auto theft and felony evasion. But a jail spokeswoman said there was no record of Hernandez, and he was not in custody as of Sunday afternoon.

The other suspect, a 16-year-old Latino male from Oxnard, was taken to Juvenile Hall. He was not identified because of his age.

The chase began about 12:46 a.m. when a Ventura police officer saw a car driving north on Seaward Avenue near Main Street without its lights on. When the officer tried to get the vehicle to stop, the driver fled east on Poli Street to Foothill Road.

With the officer in pursuit, the driver continued driving east to Mills Road and then headed south. At Main Street, the driver headed east to Telephone Road and continued east toward the Government Center on Victoria Avenue. He ran a red light at Telephone and Victoria and nearly collided with two cars.

It was the evasive action taken to avoid hitting the oncoming traffic that sent the driver across the westbound lanes of Telephone Road, hitting a bus bench and coming to rest against a brick wall near the veterans memorial monument at the southwest corner of the Government Center, police said.

The driver and passenger got out of the car and ran, but they were eventually apprehended in a parking lot, authorities said.

Police said the vehicle was stolen in Oceanside.

No one was injured in the pursuit.