We’ve often joked that people, “Come to Yucca Valley for the fun and stop for the lights.” With 15 traffic lights on the highway in town limits, getting through town can sometimes be aggravating, to say the least. On Monday, the traffic lights helped a suspect in a high-speed pursuit get away from law enforcement officers. California Highway Patrol Officer Darren Meyer said another officer attempted to stop a green Ford Explorer on Interstate 10 near Haugen-Lehmann Way for having expired registration tags just before 7 p.m. Monday. The Explorer refused to stop, and the pursuit was on. The CHP officer called for assistance, and at one time, had four CHP patrol units from the San Gorgonio office, as well as units from the Indio and Morongo Basin join in the pursuit. Meyer said top speeds reached 70 to 80 miles per hour as the pursuit moved from eastbound I-10 to Highway 62 into the Morongo Basin. As the pursuit reached Yucca Valley, Meyer said the suspect began running red lights at Kickapoo, Mohawk Trail, and others, and was driving on the right shoulder to evade officers. Meyer said in the interest of safety, officers called off the pursuit near Balsa Avenue at 7:09 p.m. About 15 minutes later, a Sheriff’s deputy spotted the suspect vehicle and called the CHP for assistance, but Meyer said CHP declined to begin the pursuit again. At that time, the deputy backed off and the suspect got away.
