Attempted traffic stop in Joshua Tree leads to pursuit and arrest after pizza shop crash in Twentynine Palms

A high-speed pursuit through the Morongo Basin ended with a collision into a restaurant and the driver hospitalized and facing a felony.

Early Friday morning (January 16) at around 4:30 a.m, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle near the intersection of Twentynine Palms Highway and Sherwood Road in Joshua Tree. Deputies say the driver of the vehicle did not pull over, and initiated a pursuit. The Sheriff’s Department identified the driver as Nathan Lowary, 26. Deputies say that Lowary ran red lights and stop signs during the pursuit and hit speeds of 110 miles per hour.

Deputies say the pursuit ended when Lowary crashed the vehicle in the parking lot of Rocky’s New York Style Pizzeria, located near the intersection of Twentynine Palms Highway and Adobe Road in Twentynine Palms. Deputies say the vehicle crashed into cement blocks, railings, and a crane before hitting the restaurant.

Deputies said that Lowary was the only occupant of the vehicle. He was taken to a nearby hospital. Sunday night (January 18), Lowary was medically cleared for booking. Nathan Lowary was arrested on suspicion of felony evasion with disregard for public safety and is being held at the West Valley Jail on $50,000 bail. 

In a social media post, the owners of Rocky’s said that there were no injuries to staff, and that there was damage to the business’s fence, but not the restaurant itself. The post said that, aside from fence damage, “everything seems ok.”

The restaurant has maintained their regular hours since the collision.