Murder Suspect Slain After 300-Mile Pursuit

A 22-year-old man suspected of murdering a good Samaritan motorist in Merced County headed south on a 300-mile chase through California that ended more than four hours later when police shot him to death Friday afternoon on a freeway off-ramp in Westminster.

Officers pursuing Darren Michael Stroh as he sped down the San Joaquin Valley, across the rain-slicked streets of downtown Los Angeles and south on the San Diego Freeway said he fired several shots at them during the chase, blasting out the rear window of his stolen convertible with guns he had reportedly taken from his grandfather’s Oregon home.

At 2:45 p.m., 4 hours and 15 minutes after the murder near Los Banos in Merced County, the red Volkswagen Cabriolet ran out of fuel and coasted to a stop on the Golden West Street off-ramp. Eight California Highway Patrol cars slowly rolled up behind the Volkswagen and stopped. A ninth blocked the end of the exit ramp.

Gun drawn, one CHP officer inched toward the car through a patch of ice plant on the driver’s side. Another armed CHP officer crawled forward along a drainage ditch on the passenger side.

The CHP said the officers ordered Stroh to get out. After a moment’s hesitation, Stroh aimed his shotgun at one of the officers and both patrolmen opened fire, killing him instantly, according to investigators.

The final minutes of the chase, and the shooting that ended Stroh’s life, were televised live by news helicopters.

Stroh, who lived at one time in San Diego, was not believed to have a criminal record, investigators said. However, family members said problems with drugs, including the sale of methamphetamine, led to his dishonorable discharge from the Navy in 1990.

Officers said the incident began about 10 a.m. in Los Banos, where Stroh, who was driving a Toyota sedan, stopped for gasoline at a service station. Lt. Bill Blake, commander of the Merced County sheriff’s substation in Los Banos, said that at the gas station, Stroh picked up a hitchhiker, 31-year-old Michael Graham of Hollister, before heading south again on Interstate 5.

Blake said Graham told him that Stroh talked of being on a trip that was taking him from Oregon to San Diego County. Stroh’s brother, Robert, said later that Stroh had called Friday morning to say he wanted to move in with him in San Diego.

About 12 miles south of Los Banos, the Toyota broke down, and Stroh pulled to the shoulder, police said.

Stroh got out, opened the trunk and took out a large plastic emergency sign that read “HELP.” Graham said he saw several firearms, among them a shotgun, in the trunk of the car.

A motorist stopped, but was unable to help and continued on his way, according to Graham. Then a second motorist, identified by the Merced County coroner’s office as David Scott Baker, 26, of Castle Rock, Wash., stopped.

“This good Samaritan pulled his car around and tried to jump-start the victim’s car,” Blake said. “It sputtered and died. It wouldn’t start. . . .

“Well, the victim pulled off the jumper cables and sat down in his car. That’s when the bad guy gets the 12-gauge (shotgun) out of his car and shoots the victim twice. I guess he wanted his car.”

Stroh, an electrician’s assistant, had been upset recently about his inability to find a job in Oregon, according to his father, Dan Stroh, and highway patrolmen said the suspect may have been drinking before the shooting.

Asked if he knew what might have led to the lethal outburst, Dan Stroh, a 46-year-old firefighter in Longview, Tex., replied softly, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew. . . .

“The only thing I know that was troubling him was that he couldn’t find work,” the father said. “He’d been in no more trouble than anyone else.”

Blake said that after killing Baker, a married man who was on his way to the Los Angeles area to visit relatives, Stroh dragged the victim’s body out of the car, got behind the wheel, “and asked the hitchhiker if he wanted to come along. . . .

“Graham said, ‘No,’ ” Blake said.

Officers said Stroh then drove the blue car about 55 miles south on I-5 before it collided with another vehicle near Coalinga, in Fresno County. In the ensuing confusion, Stroh stole the Volkswagen and headed south again on I-5, leaving behind the owner of the car, who reportedly was not injured.

Ironically, the license plate on the Volkswagen read: “KRUL FA8”

South of Bakersfield, CHP officers, alerted by police in Merced and Fresno counties, began trailing the Volkswagen. More patrol cars joined the chase at the Tejon Pass.

Officers said that throughout that stretch of the chase, Stroh averaged 70 to 75 m.p.h. They said that because he was armed, they decided not to force him off the road.

The convoy headed south on I-5, turning onto the Hollywood Freeway near Sun Valley. Officers said that as he reached Hollywood, Stroh turned off at Melrose Avenue, wending his way on streets through downtown Los Angeles and into East Los Angeles before turning south on the Long Beach Freeway.

As the chase continued, Stroh opened fire at the pursuing officers, blasting out the rear window of the Volkswagen, but apparently not hitting any of the patrol cars or the officers inside them.

In Long Beach, Stroh changed to the southbound San Diego Freeway, speeding up to 90 m.p.h.

“He was using the shoulders, on-ramps, off-ramps, everything he could to get around people,” CHP Officer Lyle Whitten said.

By this time, several helicopters had joined the chase, including police and television craft.

As Stroh neared the Golden West Street exit, the car began to slow, rolling to a stop about halfway down the off-ramp, its signal lights flashing. Officers said the vehicle apparently ran out of gas.

“The driver just sat there,” said Joe Delio, 33, of Garden Grove, one of several bystanders who watched from a nearby parking lot. “The officers . . . were yelling into a bullhorn, telling him to keep his hands on the steering wheel where they could see them.”

Seconds later, Delio said, the officers told Stroh to stick his hands out the window.

Meanwhile, the CHP said, the two officers were crawling toward the Volkswagen. Delio said the officer nearest the passenger-side door “sprang up in a standing position and asked the guy not to move. . . .

“They made every attempt to give him a chance,” Delio said. “He didn’t do anything they asked him to do. . . .

“Apparently there was a sudden movement from the car,” Delio continued. “I couldn’t tell you what kind of movement. But I saw the guy in the car--his head moved--and I heard shots. . . . I counted six, maybe seven shots. . . .

“Then it was dead quiet.”

Investigators said the officers opened fire when Stroh started to point the shotgun at one of them. “They did not wait for the suspect to start shooting them,” Whitten said.

In Merced County, authorities questioned the hitchhiker, Graham, and arrested him for a parole violation, but said he had not been implicated in the Los Banos murder.

Times staff writers Bill Billiter, Marla Cone, Lily Eng, Jane Fritsch, John M. Glionna, Matt Lait, Mark Platte and Eric Young contributed to this story.

A Deadly Chase Through California

A murder suspect led authorities on a 300-mile chase from the San Joaquin Valley to Orange County on Friday, reportedly taking potshots at officers. Here are some details according to police officials, reporters and news helicopter pilots who flew above the car:

A. Incident begins at a Los Banos gas station where the suspect, identified as Darren Michael Stroh, picks up a hitchhiker. They drive south on Interstate 5.

B. The car stalls and Stroh puts out a plastic “help” sign. One driver stops, is unable to help and leaves. Then a man in small blue car tries to help jump-start Stroh’s car. Stroh shoots him to death and takes his car. The hitchhiker stays behind.

C. Stroh continues alone on I-5 south until his car is in a collision near Coalinga. He then steals a Volkswagen Cabriolet.

D. California Highway Patrol picks up the chase near Bakersfield.

E. Stroh drives toward Los Angeles. In Sun Valley, he turns onto the Hollywood Freeway. In Hollywood, the chase moves to surface streets. He wends his way through downtown L.A. and into East L.A. He finally gets onto the southbound 710 Freeway.

F. At several points, Stroh fires his shotgun at pursuing officers as he continues to the southbound 405 Freeway.

G. The car comes to a stop, apparently out of gas, on a 405 Freeway off-ramp near the Westminster Mall. From the car, Stroh raises his shotgun toward approaching officers, who then shoot and kill him.