Two people were arrested Friday morning following a high-speed pursuit on dirt roads in Joshua Tree. According to Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Leach, around 9 a.m. Friday, he saw a 2007 Mazda 6 sedan driving eastbound on Pipeline Road and cross Sunfair without slowing or stopping. Leach turned on his lights and siren and began a pursuit of the car, north onto Cascade, and then east on Broadway, at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour. The driver, identified as Dustin Sansoucie, 25, of Twentynine Palms, crashed the car near the dry lake bed, and then fled on foot into the hills with the radio transmitters north of the highway. Leach called in a helicopter to help track and capture Sansoucie, and he was eventually captured about two miles away from the crash site. A passenger in the car, Melissa Whipple, 28, tried to hide behind a bush near the crashed vehicle but was taken into custody by arriving deputies without incident. Deputies determined the Mazda 6 had been stolen June 13 from Tortoise Rock Casino. In addition, the car’s license plates had also been stolen, and there were additional stolen license plates inside the vehicle. Deputies also located methamphetamine inside the car. Dustin Sansoucie was arrested for investigation of felony reckless driving while failing to yield, theft of a motor vehicle, and a no-bail parole violation. He was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail with his total bail set at $150,000. Melissa Whipped was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, booked at the Morongo Basin Jail, with her bail set at $50,000.
