OXNARD : Driver Arrested After 10-Mile Chase

A driver who sped past a sheriff’s patrol car in Camarillo early Sunday was arrested after a 10-mile high-speed chase that ended in Oxnard, where he leaped from his truck, swung a fence post at deputies and police officers, and challenged them to shoot him, authorities said.

Anthony Michael Brunner, 28, of Oxnard was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest and reckless driving after the 5:30 a.m. pursuit, which began on the Ventura Freeway and reached speeds of up to 100 m.p.h., Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Gary Backman said.

Several sheriff’s patrol cars and cruisers from the Oxnard Police Department joined the chase before Brunner stopped his pickup in the 3200 block of Madera Place, Backman said. Brunner jumped from the truck, broke off part of a nearby wooden fence, swung it like a baseball bat and shouted that they should kill him, Backman said.

The officers persuaded Brunner, who was not intoxicated, to put down the wood, Backman said.