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SAN JOSE — A man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he allegedly tried to flee a police stop by ramming a police car and speeding off, but ended up crashing into the garage of an Alum Rock home, authorities said.
Around 1:45 p.m., a patrol officer was trying to conduct a traffic stop on a blue Chevrolet pickup truck for an unspecified vehicle code violation near Dale Drive and Alum Rock Avenue, Officer Gina Tepoorten said. She added that the truck matched a description from a January hit-and-run crash in the area where the driver was suspected of ramming another vehicle.
But Wednesday’s driver — whose identity was not immediately released — instead backed into the officer’s patrol car, sped away, and traveled about a half-mile east to East Hills Drive when he crashed and wedged the truck into the residential garage. Police would later learn that the suspect hit two other vehicles in his escape path, Tepoorten said.
It was unclear whether the officer whose car was hit was able to engage in a pursuit. But after the crash, a large contingent of police officers, joined by police dogs, surrounded the home with guns drawn as they searched for the driver.
Around 3 p.m., police officers entered the garage and took the man into custody. He was taken a local hospital, and upon release was expected to be booked into the Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, and evading a police officer.
The officer involved in the initial traffic stop attempt was also taken to a hospital with what police described as non-life threatening injuries. The occupants in the other two vehicles the suspect allegedly hit were not injured, police said.
According to police, the pickup truck matched a description from a January hit-and-run collision in the area. But it was not immediately clear whether that was spurred the initial traffic stop.
Check back later for updates to this story.
#BREAKING @SanJosePD arrests suspect who slammed his truck into a garage on the 3300 block of East Hills Road. @nbcbayarea https://t.co/8QQcSPDRxN pic.twitter.com/JM7jbLKSEV
— John Zuchelli (@tvzuke) February 13, 2019
