grassvalley
A Concord man was arrested late Sunday near Grass Valley after a chase that began when he allegedly drove across a roundabout and ended when he tried to break into a stranger’s house, police said.
The confrontation with police began around 11:30 p.m., when Grass Valley officers went to investigate a report that a car had driven through the middle of a traffic circle near the Main Street off-ramp from Highway 49, striking a monument in its center.
They found the car parked at a nearby Chevron gas station. As they pulled into the lot, a man got into the car and started driving away, police Sgt. Brian Blakemore told a reporter from the Union.
The officers followed the car two miles south on Highway 49 then six more miles on a rural road to the Alta Sierra subdivision. “(The car) is crossing over the double yellow lines, the speeds are fluctuating greatly, which really indicated a possible DUI,” Blakemore said.
On a cul-de-sac near the Alta Sierra Country Club, the driver jumped from the car and ran to a house, where he pounded on the front door.
Blakemore told radio station KNCO that the driver later indicated he thought it was his parents’ house — but it was not. When the resident opened the door, the driver tried to get inside. As he did, the police released their dog, Romeo, who bit the intruder.
He “was then extracted back to the front porch and was taken into custody,” Blakemore said.
The 44-year-old Concord man was charged with driving under the influence, reckless evasion, driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest. He reportedly refused to cooperate during a field sobriety test.
He was treated at a hospital for puncture wounds from the dog bite and then booked into the Nevada County jail. His bail was set at $35,000.
The monument in the roundabout was not damaged, KNCO reported. The installation of concrete, metal and wood, called “The Elders,” commemorates the area’s mining and timber industries and its indigenous people and early settlers.
Originally published at Bay Area News Group