SPPD: Man arrested DUI, hit and run while driving stolen vehicle

July 25, 2007
Santa Paula Police Department

A man fleeing the scene of a weekend accident is facing more than DUI and hit and run charges, after the car he was driving was reported as stolen, according to a Santa Paula Police spokesman.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA man fleeing the scene of a weekend accident is facing more than DUI and hit and run charges, after the car he was driving was reported as stolen, according to a Santa Paula Police spokesman.The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. on the 500 block of West Harvard Boulevard on July 15, after an anonymous 911 caller reported seeing a Honda leaving the scene after hitting a parked Ranger pickup, according to SPPD Lt. Mike Saviers.SPPD Officer Jeremy Watson observed a 1994 Honda Accord traveling westbound in the 100 block of East Harvard Boulevard and pulled the vehicle over. Officer Watson then placed the driver, 24-year-old Martin Estrada, under arrest for suspicion of hit and run and driving under the influence.
As the car was being inventoried prior to being towed from the scene, it was noticed that the “ignition had been punched out, it was broken,” noted Lt. Saviers. SPPD personnel tried to make contact with the registered owner - a Santa Paula resident - but were unsuccessful.“I don’t know if she was out of town for the weekend or what the circumstances were” that the owner was unavailable when the SPPD attempted to make contact, noted Lt. Saviers. Estrada was booked into Ventura County Jail on the hit and run and DUI charges.On Sunday evening at about 11 p.m., the SPPD received a call from the car’s registered owner who reported that her vehicle had been stolen from the 700 block of West Harvard Boulevard. “We went to the jail and Estrada was additionally charged with auto theft,” noted Lt. Saviers.The Honda received major front-end damage, “but Estrada was still able to flee in it” after hitting the parked Ranger, heavily damaging the rear of the vehicle. Although Estrada was not charged with resisting arrest, he was “uncooperative” with police and did not provide a place of residence. “He was driving without a license,” Lt. Saviers noted.



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