Driver Brings Freeway Chase to Sudden Halt

VENTURA —  A 41-year-old San Clemente woman led authorities on a 130-mile high-speed pursuit from San Juan Capistrano to Ventura on Monday before a pickup truck driver suddenly braked in front of her, forcing her to crash into his vehicle, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Tina A. Berger was taken to Hillmont Psychiatric Center in Ventura about 1:45 p.m. Monday after the pursuit through Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties that reached speeds of 120 mph, said CHP spokeswoman Carol Kelly.

The incident began about noon on Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano when CHP Officer Jerry Graul attempted to pull over the Nissan for speeding. The car, traveling with emergency flashers blinking, moved back and forth across freeway lanes, sometimes using the median strip to pass vehicles.

CHP cars stayed several hundred feet behind and a law enforcement helicopter hovered overhead.

The chase ended on the Ventura Freeway near Telephone Road, when 34-year-old Tony Biltoft of Oxnard saw the fast-approaching 1993 Nissan Sentra in his rearview mirror. He slammed on his brakes, causing the car to rear-end his truck and stop in the center lane of the three-lane freeway.

Northbound traffic came to a halt and Berger was pulled from the car at gunpoint. She was taken to the county mental health facility for observation, said CHP Sgt. Dane Hayward.

Hayward said Berger told officers that a Camp Pendleton Marine base chaplain sent her to Santa Barbara to take over the West Coast chapter of an organization. She did not specify the name of the organization, Hayward said.

Base spokesman Sgt. Jay Connolly said, “I can safely say our chaplains do not pass along that kind of advice to anyone.”

Biltoft said he saw the chase on TV before leaving home. As he drove on the freeway toward Ventura, he spotted the Nissan. “At that point I wasn’t concerned about me. I was more concerned about what she could do to someone else,” Biltoft said.

The collision deployed the air bag in the Nissan, and authorities said Berger was not injured. Biltoft’s truck, which had been rear-ended a month earlier, was not damaged by the impact, which occurred at about 35 mph.

Biltoft, a father of seven who was heading to the Ventura County district attorney’s office to pick up a child-support check, ended the pursuit, but CHP officers criticized his actions. CHP Officer David Cockrill said Biltoft’s maneuver was dangerous under any circumstances.

“This person had no idea what Berger was wanted for or if she had a weapon,” Cockrill said. “Nobody in law enforcement would do anything like this.”

Officers found a purse, straw hat and a jacket in Berger’s car. No weapons were found.