Motorist Tasered after four-hour freeway chase says he was trying to visit sister

A man wearing a bathrobe and socks said he was trying to see his sister when he led California Highway Patrol officers on a four-hour, 200-mile freeway chase across Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The chase ended Monday afternoon in a San Dimas parking lot when the motorist, identified by officials as Daniel Wachter, got into a foot chase with officers who then Tasered him, causing him to fall to the ground.

Officials said the pursuit began about 2 p.m. Monday just north of Castaic when a man driving a green sedan failed to pull over for a CHP officer who saw him speeding in lanes of the southbound 5 Freeway.

After a brief foray onto surface streets in Valencia, the man continued on Interstate 5 and then traversed several freeways -- including the 170, 134, 210 and 605, officials said.

He eventually got on Interstate 10 and headed west to Redlands in San Bernardino County, where he drove on surface streets and at one point paused at a gas station but then continued on.

As rush hour began, the driver headed west on the 10 Freeway back toward Los Angeles County.

In a brief interview after he was arrested, Wachter told KTLA that he was trying to visit his sister, who lived either in "Riverside or Santa Cruz."

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-- Andrew Blankstein

Photo credit: KTLA News

 

Comments

[jlee]

White guy gets tazed. Any other race and this story would have the usual ending. When's the last time a white guy got shot by the cops anyway?

[gern]

Clearly the driver has mental health problems. Thank you to the CHP for taking him into custody without loss of life. Hopefully the driver will now get the help he needs. Will anyone be surprised if this man had no access to mental health care?

[NotOnFacebook]

Wait, let me get this straight: the CHP chases a confused dude for four hours because he failed to pull over for speeding?!

Putting your tax dollars to use, folks!

[Ken]

He was clearly driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. So the cops should just ignore him and 911 calls from citizens?
You're obviously a moron and have some anti cop bias to your idiotic logic.

[Mufon]

Noton,

Allow me to clarify this. Yes, he failed to stop as required by law, so they pursued him. I'm sure you're anti police, so if they'd have let him go and he'd have run into someone, you'd be accusing them of cowardice and sloth. Maybe you enjoy allowing dangerous vehicle code violators to do as they please, but the majority of us see this as tax dollars put to good use.

[Mcgibby]

Jlee:

It was probably the last time a white guy was dumb enough to pull a weapon on the LAPD.

[Robert]

@NotOnFacebook: Let me see if I understand. You want CHP to not chase down speeders, or not chase down confused dudes? Which ones do you think are so insignificant that they should be allowed to go on their merry way? What if the confused dude is also speeding? What do you see as the tax-acceptable activity for CHP

[soyrizo]

"When's the last time a white guy got shot by the cops anyway?"

Just a couple months ago in Long Beach. Shot and killed because he was holding a garden hose nozzle.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/man-killed-by-long-beach-police-was-holding-a-water-nozzle.html

[Patricia]

These police are shameless to blame this on marijuana. We have tens of thousands of medical marijuana patients who use marijuana every single day in California and we do not have tens of thousands of people getting out on the freeway and doing this.

These officers should have better things to do than use their jobs to wage political campaigns against drug reform.

The man is clearly mentally ill. What we need in this state is better care for the mentally ill.

We might be able to afford that if the police weren't so addicted to marijuana prohibition and blaming everything in the world on pot.

[Gene Venable]

The police of course wouldn't know beforehand that he was only guilty of speeding. Most people who flee from the police are guilty of worse offenses.

[Mime]

"A man wearing a bathrobe and socks said he was trying to see his sister when he led California Highway Patrol officers on a four-hour, 200-mile freeway chase across Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties."

Are we sure this is not just a movie shoot?

[Truth]

To JLEE, I agree with you completely. To SOYRIZO, yes and also cops shot and killed a naked African American guy in Playa Vista http://projects.latimes.com/homicide/post/reginald-doucet-jr-jr/
the point is that more African American and Latino males get killed by cops because they are seen as a "threat" to them. If you don't see the obviousness in this then you must live under a rock.

[marcus]

it would of been nice to stop him sooner, GUESS WHAT EVERYONE, your tax dollars paid for the officers gas they wasted for pursuing him for over 3 hours that's including their helicopter use .. at least they tased him at the end. old days I would think a slap with a baton would of been good.

[Mcgibby]

Truth:

Yeah, that's very scientific of you. The all white LAPD is intentionally tracking down and shooting minorities...clearly has nothing to do with the excessive gang violence, disprespect for authority, and anti-police sentiment that is rampant.... First way to avoid being shot, don't point weapons at the police.

[Dan m]

zap

[Dan m]

They HAD to chase him down to make sure it wasn't Charlie on rampage.