All photos courtesy of Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
File photo of Luis Lopez | Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Detectives began a search for a suspect named Luis Lopez (35) of Salinas. Lopez is a member of a Salinas Gang. He was wanted on charges of Kidnapping, Domestic Violence, and Vehicle Theft.
The Detectives were able to locate Lopez driving a Dodge Charger off of Castroville Boulevard in Purnedale. A K9 unit made an attempt to get Lopez to stop the vehicle. Lopez initially began to pull over however quickly became uncooperative with Officers and sped away from the scene.
Officer’s initiated a pursuit to follow and detain Lopez. Another Detective deployed a spike strip near Elkhorn Rd successfully flattening 2 of the suspects tires. Lopez continued to drive the vehicle with 2 of his tires flattened toward North County High School.
The school was locked down as a precaution and the Deputies continued the pursuit.
As the pursuit advanced toward the intersection of Castroville Blvd and Highway 156, the suspects vehicle crashed into a K-rail after he lost control of the car. The vehicle spun in a complete circle before stopping on Highway 156.
Evidence seized during search warrants | Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
Lopez then started to drive again, this time through a fence and onto a field, where the vehicle became undrivable, and Lopez was forced to stop. As Deputies approached the suspect, Lopez continued to be uncooperative and resist Detectives commands. After a short struggle the Detectives were able to take Lopez into custody without further incident.
As they searched the vehicle they found methamphetamine packaged for distribution of sale.
Lopez was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. He was then taken into custody at the Monterey County Jail and charged with kidnapping, domestic violence, vehicle theft, as well as drug related charges and resisting arrest.
