Pair arrested after chase with sheriff's deputies
Wash. men flip car on offramp in Shasta Lake
By Jim Schultz (Contact)
Saturday, August 30, 2008

SHASTA LAKE — A 30-year-old Yakima, Wash., man was arrested Friday after he allegedly fled in his car from sheriff's deputies and was later struck by another car at a Shasta Dam Boulevard off-ramp.

The driver, Jose Luis Gomez-Gaxton, then attempted to run away after his car flipped and struck a guardrail and traffic signal pole, but he was quickly apprehended, a Shasta County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.

Gomez-Gaxton, who was found to be under the influence of alcohol, was arrested on suspicion of hit and run with injuries and evading a police officer with wanton disregard for the safety of persons and property, the spokesman said.

Additional charges may be leveled after the completion of a California Highway Patrol accident investigation.

Gomez-Gaxton's passenger, Felipe Barboza Reyes, 46, also of Yakima, was also arrested on an outstanding San Bernardino County warrant for allegedly violating probation. Reyes is the owner of the vehicle.

Deputies had earlier pulled Gomez-Gaxton over north of Wonderland Boulevard on Interstate 5 around 10 a.m. for allegedly speeding and other traffic violations, deputies reported.

But when he was asked for his driver's license, he abruptly reached into a small suitcase, causing deputies to fear that he was possibly reaching for a gun, the spokesman said.

Gomez-Gaxton then quickly sped away with sheriff's deputies in pursuit.

Deputies said that Gomez-Gaxton was driving in a reckless and erratic manner and passed southbound vehicles on the freeway's left shoulder as he tried to elude deputies, the spokesman said.

He drove at a high speed off the south Shasta Dam Boulevard exit and was unable to stop for a red light at the end of the exit.

His car was then broadsided by another vehicle legally going through the intersection. The occupants of that car were not seriously injured, deputies said.

The wreck forced the closure of the southbound off-ramp, as well as the northbound on- and offramps for about an hour.

Gomez-Gaxton and Reyes both suffered minor injuries in the crash and were treated at Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding.

They were booked into Shasta County jail and immigration holds were placed against both of them, the sheriff's spokesman said.
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/30 ... -deputies/