A vehicle theft suspect escaped from police custody Wednesday night, setting off a manhunt in West Sacramento, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The incident began at about 7:15 p.m. when a CHP officer patrolling westbound Highway 50 near Harbor Boulevard ran a license-plate check on a Ford Explorer and discovered it had been reported stolen, according to a CHP news release.
Before the officer could initiate a vehicle stop, however, the Explorer suddenly pulled to the side of the freeway, forcing the officer to pull over in front of the other vehicle.
“As the CHP officer walked toward the Explorer, the suspect, later identified as Charles Ames, put the Explorer into drive and attempted to pull forward,” the news release said. “The CHP officer immediately drew his duty weapon and Ames complied with the officer’s command to stop the Explorer.”
Ames was then taken into custody and placed in the back of the CHP patrol car, but escaped as the officer was processing the stolen vehicle, according to the CHP. Ames fled across both the westbound and eastbound lanes and into a nearby West Sacramento neighborhood.
Officers established a perimeter in the area of Industrial and Harbor boulevards and — with assistance from West Sacramento police, Yolo County sheriff’s deputies and a CHP air unit — captured Ames shortly before 9 p.m.
Ames, 29, of Sacramento, was booked into the Yolo County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, vehicle theft, escape and resisting arrest.