Man Leads Deputies on Pursuit; Rams Patrol Car With Vehicle

APPLE VALLEY, CALIF:(VVNG.com)– A 23-year-old man involved in a pursuit that spanned into three different cities, rammed into a patrol car was arrested Thursday night.

The failure to yield initiated at approximately 4:20 a.m. when Deputy Jeffrey Wetmore from the Apple Valley Sheriff’s station saw an older model Nissan pickup truck with paper plates traveling westbound on Bear Valley Road.

According to a Sheriff’s press release, as Deputy Wetmore got behind the vehicle, it made an abrupt lane change, then passed cars in the center turning lane. Wetmore initiated a traffic stop, but the driver failed to yield.

The suspect, Matthew Martinez, led deputies on a pursuit from Apple Valley into Hesperia and Lucerne Valley.

During the pursuit, Martinez rammed a marked police unit occupied by a deputy. A second deputy used his marked patrol unit to disable the suspect vehicle and end the pursuit.

The deputies were not injured, but two marked police units were damaged in the pursuit.

Martinez was taken into custody without incident in the 32200 block of Corwin Road near Cummings Road in Lucerne Valley.

Matthew Martinez was booked into the High Desert Detention Center and is currently being held in lieu of a $100,000 bail. He’s scheduled to appear in a Victorville courtroom on December 5th at 12:30 p.m.