Man arrested for allegedly starting chase, police say

A Capo Beach man was arrested Thursday morning after leading Newport Beach authorities on a dangerous chase that ended at South Coast Plaza, police said.

Michael David Backman, 42, was arrested on suspicion of stealing a black Ford Focus after trying to flee Newport police who tried to pull him over, Newport Beach Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

It started just before 6 a.m. when officials said a woman called them to report a suspicious black Ford Focus in the Pavilions grocery store parking lot at Newport Coast Drive and San Joaquin Hills Road. The woman supplied the license plate number, which showed the car was reported as stolen, officials said.

A responding officer spotted the Focus westbound on San Joaquin Hills Road near Ridge Park Road when the driver fled, Sailor said.

The driver turned right, heading north on MacArthur Boulevard before getting on the 73 Freeway north toward Costa Mesa. Police said Backman exited at Fairview Road in Costa Mesa and turned right, then right again on South Coast Drive.

Because Backman’s driving was “putting the public at risk,” pursuing officers used a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, to end the chase.

A PIT maneuver is when a police car pulls alongside a fleeing vehicle and steers into the mid- to rear-part of the vehicle, forcing it to spin-out or lose control. Officers then surround the vehicle to cut off any escape.

Costa Mesa police and an Orange County Sheriff’s K-9 unit helped in the pursuit. Backman did not resist arrest once he stopped, Sailor said. He’s being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

— Joseph Serna