Tires worn down to rims, acrid smell of burning rubber in air. Suspect in custody. pic.twitter.com/N6CdnETsCF
— Tiffany Wilson (@TWilsonTV) August 10, 2016
A man is in custody today after leading police on a lengthy yet slow pursuit this morning from the South Bay all the way to the East Bay. The East Bay Times reports that the vehicle chase lasted three hours, and that speeds never went above 40 miles an hour.
Police starting following the black Toyota Avalon around 2:15 a.m. in Menlo Park, and when the driver refused to pull over they continued to follow him across the San Mateo Bridge until Tunnel Road near the Caldecott Tunnel in Berkeley where it all finally came to an end. Before that happened, though, CHP reportedly placed spike strips on the road. However, the man, identified as 28-year-old Abdul Henan Zahid of Berkeley, went right over them and kept driving.
When he did finally come to a stop around 5:15 a.m., his car caught fire — truly suggesting that this was not Zahid's day. Police say he still refused to get out, and so officers decided to shoot out the car windows with bean bag rounds so that they could send a dog in to get him.
As to why Zahid allegedly led these officers on a hours-long chase? It might have to do with the bottle of pills that ABC 7 reports was found in his vehicle.
Zahid was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and evading police — after which he was sent to the hospital to be checked out.
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