---

---

Update at 8:19 a.m. Tuesday with information from Del Norte County Sheriff's Office: An Oregon man who led law enforcement on a high speed chase in a Winnebago on Thursday may have been involved in a domestic violence incident about 47 miles north of where the pursuit began.

Daniel John Anderson, 37, of Woodburn, allegedly fled the scene after law enforcement contacted a woman who appeared to be in distress at about 6:15 p.m. near Humbug Mountain State Park in Curry County, according to an Oregon State Police report.

Oregon State Police found the suspect’s motorhome near Brookings

and tried to stop him for a traffic violation, according to the OSP report.

When he failed to yield, OSP and the Curry County Sheriff’s Office pursued Anderson into California, cancelling the chase when he crossed the state line, California Highway Patrol Officer Brandon Banks told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Monday.

The CHP then took over the pursuit, but canceled it near U.S. 101 and Reynolds Lane, Banks said.

“We terminated the pursuit because the RV was driving into oncoming traffic causing near-misses with the motoring public,” Banks said. “Due to the safety aspect of it we cancelled the pursuit. Our sergeant was monitoring the pursuit via telephone.”

Banks said the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office was also involved in the pursuit.

According to Del Norte County Sheriff’s Cmdr. Grant Henderson, deputies continued to pursue Anderson until he entered Crescent City limits. He said this was at the request of the Curry County Sheriff’s Office, who wanted Anderson on suspicion of felony domestic battery and possibly driving under the influence.

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Crescent City Police Department when the suspect reached their jurisdiction, Henderson told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Tuesday.

When Anderson entered Crescent City, police officers deployed stop sticks at the request of the CHP and Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Ed Wilson, the police department’s acting police chief, told the Outpost.

That maneuver blew out Anderson’s tires, but didn’t stop him, Wilson said. The officer in pursuit tried to stop him with lights and sirens and followed the RV to an area behind Rite Aid on 5th Street. The suspect was attempting to turn the Winnebago around when he got stuck in the dirt, Wilson said.

“The suspect did ram a vehicle, but only one, and the driver was not injured,” Wilson said, adding that the collision occurred near 9th and L streets in Crescent City. “The driver was able to maneuver out of the way.”

CCPD officers took Anderson into custody without further incident, Wilson said.

Two dogs in the Winnebago were taken to the Del Norte County Animal Shelter, Wilson said. The woman involved in law enforcement’s initial encounter with Anderson near Humbug Mountain owns the dogs and has been notified. But, Wilson said, she may now be in a domestic violence shelter in Oregon.

In Oregon, Anderson faces charges of interfering with making a police report, menacing and recklessly endangering a person, according to the OSP report.

In California, Anderson faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s vehicle, according to a spokeswoman in the Del Norte County District Attorney’s office.

Anderson was arraigned on Monday and is due in Del Norte County Superior Court for a bail review on Wednesday, according to the DA’s office.

When asked what the Crescent City Police Department’s policy is governing pursuits, Wilson said it’s a constant evaluation.

“You’re constantly looking at traffic, road conditions, vehicle conditions, speed,” he said. “And I can only assume, based on those factors, the sheriff’s office and the highway patrol backed off.”

When a law enforcement agency backs off a police pursuit, they turn off their lights and sirens and try to keep the suspect’s vehicle in sight, Wilson said. In larger jurisdictions, they back off completely and allow an air ship to follow the suspect, he said.

“The thinking being that the suspect will see that he’s no longer being pursued, he’ll slow down and perhaps abandon the vehicle and run away,” Wilson said. “In this circumstance, his speed was reduced by the popping of the tires. He was in town so there was a concern that he might injure someone by the condition of his vehicle, so the officer chose to activate lights and sirens partly to warn the people ahead.”

In the case of the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, there is a slew of reasons why deputies would terminate a pursuit, Henderson said. It could be weather conditions, speed, the time of day and the amount of traffic on the road as well as whether the pursuit is entering a school zone, he said. The sheriff’s office also takes into consideration the type of crime the suspect is wanted for, Henderson said.

“If it’s a misdemeanor and we know who the driver is,” Henderson said.

Henderson noted that deputies had been told that Anderson was wanted for felony battery and driving under the influence and was driving a motorhome, which is a big weapon. Henderson said Anderson reached speeds of up to 80 mph.

“It was the judgment call of the supervisor and he felt the need to continue,” Henderson said.

Wilson said motorists were quick to get out of the way when the pursuit came their way. The RV collision with the Tesla occurred on a narrow section of U.S. 101, he said.

While CCPD took Anderson into custody without further incident on the suspect’s part, Wilson said officers saw bystanders coming to the location to watch the arrest.

“That actually was getting to the point where it might have started creating a hazard and making it more difficult and dangerous,” Wilson said. “We ask that people who hear about these things on the scanner or over the scanner feed on Facebook avoid the area and not come to rubberneck.”

---

SHARE →