High-speed Schellville-to-Temelec chase ends in arrest

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An El Verano man was arrested early Thursday morning following a high-speed chase from Schellville up through Temelec.

At about 1:20 a.m., deputies had stopped a motorist on Fremont Drive and Highway 121, when a second vehicle, a Dodge pickup truck, pulled up on the scene slowly. A deputy noticed that a tail light in the pickup was burned out and tried to stop the vehicle with his lights and siren.

Instead of stopping, the vehicle took off westbound on Highway 121 at speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour, according to a release from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.

The pickup truck turned onto Arnold Drive, made a left onto Watmaugh and then a right turn into Temelec.

The motorist tried to lose the deputy by making several high-speed turns in the subdivision, but he couldn't shake the deputy.

The motorist eventually pulled over on South Temelec Circle and Avenida Sebastiani.

As the deputy got the driver out of the truck, a plastic bag of suspected methamphetamine fell on the ground.

When questioned, the motorist told the deputies he stopped at the traffic stop to see if his friend was getting arrested.

The fleeing motorist, 57-year-old Lonnie Van Winkle, from El Verano, was arrested on charges of felony evasion of a peace officer and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine, and was transported to the county jail.

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