CHP Nabs Rape Suspect After Long I-15 Freeway Chase
The suspect led police on an early-morning chase through Wildomar and Lake Elsinore.
A man suspected of raping a woman inside a French Valley home Saturday morning led officers on a more than 100-mile pursuit from Temecula, through Wildomar and Lake Elsinore, to Barstow before his arrest, according to a sheriff's department spokesman.
Bryan Tangas, 23, of French Valley, was arrested for suspicion of forcible rape and felony evading, said sheriff's Sgt. Kevin McDonald.
A women reported to authorities about 5:15 a.m. that a man had raped her by force, but that she had managed to escape and run into the neighborhood, hiding from the man until deputies arrived, McDonald said.
Deputies found the suspect's vehicle near Buck and Borel roads in French Valley, but when they tried to pull the driver over, he fled on Rancho California Road. From there, he entered Interstate 15 and headed north, according to McDonald.
Deputies turned over the chase to California Highway Patrol officers, who followed the vehicle on I-15 to Barstow, where they used spike strips to disable it just south of the desert town.
Tangas was arrested without further incident and was later booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, McDonald said.