Police chase ends on Jamboree Road

Greg Risling

A visibly upset motorist suspected of assaulting a woman in San

Bernardino led police on a chase through three counties Wednesday before

two California Highway Patrol cruisers rammed the man’s car on Jamboree

Road near Newport Beach.

The suspect, Craig Steven Bloom, 37, of Palm Springs, stormed out of

his disabled car south of Michelson Drive in Irvine about 12:30 p.m. and

was tackled by a K-9 unit when he didn’t comply with officers’ commands,

authorities said.

Bloom was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he was

treated for a dog bite on his right arm. He then was arrested on

suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and evading

arrest before being released to authorities in San Bernardino County.

The more than two-hour chase began after the suspect allegedly hit a

woman in an elevator with his briefcase about 10 a.m. at a California

Department of Transportation building in San Bernardino County.

After he drove away, authorities were notified and it wasn’t long

before police spotted the suspect’s 1990 Buick Riviera.

Several agencies were involved in the chase. CHP officers in Orange

County picked up the chase about noon as the suspect drove west on the

Riverside Freeway and then south on the Costa Mesa Freeway before heading

south on the San Diego Freeway.

“He had been maintaining the speed limit throughout our pursuit,” said

CHP Officer Joann O’Hair.

After the suspect got off the freeway at the Jamboree Road offramp, he

headed south into a heavily congested commercial area, officers said.

One of the CHP officers then rammed his cruiser into the left side of

the suspect’s car, which spun out of control and hit another car before

coming to a rest near the center median. A second CHP cruiser then

collided with the suspect’s car, officers said.