A high-speed chase that originated in Vallejo Wednesday night went all the way down to Hayward, featuring wrong-way driving, and a suspect who didn’t even stop after his tires had been spiked.
We don’t know the exact nature of the assault charge against 35-year-old George Guttenbeil that had Vallejo police and the California Highway Patrol’s Solano division pursuing him Wednesday night — only that he's accused of “attacking and threatening a Vallejo park worker with a bottle." But we do know that the chase went for 50 miles, though Contra Costa County, into Oakland, and down to Hayward. We also know that Guttenbeil brazenly drove the wrong way into traffic once in Hayward, and even kept driving after California Highway Patrol (CHP) had successfully blown his tires with tire spikes.
The highlights of the highly Grand Theft Auto-worthy car chase are captured well in KTVU’s report on this three-county Wednesday night car chase. The chase begins when officers are pursuing Guttenbeil’s Chevy pickup truck on the Benicia Bridge. The video on the left-hand side below shows where the tires are blown out by CHP spikes, with sparks visible, and you can hear the helicopter operator say, "We're approaching Dutton in the number-two lane, tires are starting to come apart at 65 miles an hour."
UPDATE: View from @CHP_GoldenGate helo H-30 of Chevy pickup driver eluding officers despite being spike-stripped. Hot pursuit streaked from Vallejo to Hayward. Suspect wanted by @VallejoPd for assault pic.twitter.com/lMTcthw9jP
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) February 22, 2024
You’d think that would be the end of it. But we are just getting started! The Chevy truck then slows to speeds of more like 20 mph, but does not give up. He hits a dead end at the :38 mark of the video, but again cannot be stopped. “He’s parking in a covered park,” the copter pilot can be heard saying. “Aaaand going through the landscaping. Back on Mission.”
At the 1:13 mark, the pilot describes the vehicle as going “back onto Foothill,” but the vehicle is now going the wrong way into oncoming three-lane traffic. “Southbound in the northbound lane,” the pilot says. “No units are behind him. Speed’s at 20.”
But he has not shaken the police, and the chase ends at the 2:05 mark. “One occupant, stepping out, hands up,” the pilot describes.
Guttenbeil is now in Vallejo police custody. According to KTVU, there was also an arrest warrant out for him in San Mateo County for grand theft.
Image: CHP - Golden Gate Division Air Operations
