EL RIO : 2 Teen-Agers Jailed After 2-Mile Chase

A suspected drunk driver and his friend remained jailed Monday after leading police on a two-mile chase through the El Rio area near Oxnard that ended with one of the suspects trying to swim a 400-yard-wide pond in an industrial area, authorities reported.

The incident started with an alleged gang dispute on Cortez Street, resulting in one man being hit with a beer bottle about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Curt Rhyne.

Witnesses said that Sandro Mendez, 19, got behind the wheel of his 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood while a 17-year-old Oxnard boy jumped in the passenger seat. The two fled the area by driving through several front yards, puncturing the front right tire.

Rhyne said he followed a two-mile trail of gouged lawns and asphalt and came across the two teen-agers at the end of Lambert Street, jacking up a parked car and trying to steal a tire.

The teen-agers fled on foot and disappeared into an industrial park. Several officers from the CHP and Ventura County Sheriff’s Department surrounded the area.

The 17-year-old was spotted swimming across a 400-yard recovery pond near an old milling site. The youthquickly tired and turned back, where he was arrested.

“He wasn’t Mark Spitz,” Rhyne said. “He was dog-tired.”

Mendez was found shortly afterward hiding behind a dumpster. Mendez was booked into Ventura County Jail in lieu of $1,500 bail for drunk driving and driving on a suspended license. The 17-year-old was booked into Juvenile Hall.

Rhyne seized Mendez’s car. If Mendez is convicted of driving on a suspended license, the car would be sold at auction, said Rhyne, adding that a new state law allows police to seize and sell automobiles after a driver is twice convicted of driving on a suspended license.