Crime & Safety
Concord Suspects Who Evaded CHP In Chase Later Arrested By Police
Three Concord men were cuffed thanks to a caller who reported suspicious activity involving a car near a canal, police say. (Breaking)
CONCORD, CA — Concord police arrested three people Wednesday who were involved in a chase with California Highway Patrol officers, but only after one of the suspects falsely reported his vehicle stolen in an effort to cover up his involvement in the chase. Just after 11 a.m., Concord police officers responded to the area of Solano Way and Olivera Road after someone called 911 to report seeing a suspicious man park a car by a nearby canal and, with two passengers, empty its contents.
The 911 caller provided descriptions of the three suspects, who fled the area on foot and left the car behind, police said.
Officers arrived and found the car and its registered owner, identified as 29-year-old Evan Navarra of Concord.
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Navarra allegedly told police that his car had just been stolen and that he'd found it parked near the canal. He also said he saw a man and a woman run away from the car and into the canal, police said.
Police searched the area, and a canine found the man and woman hiding in thick vegetation in the canal. The man was identified as 50-year-old Roland Clark and the woman was identified as 21-year-old Marcella
Martinez, both of Concord.
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Both suspects were arrested. Martinez suffered an injury to her foot after being apprehended by the canine, and was treated at a hospital, police said.
An investigation revealed that Navarra, Clark and Martinez are all friends who'd just been involved in a chase with CHP officers, who they successfully evaded, police said.
When officers first contacted Navarra, he reported his car stolen in an effort to cover his tracks in the CHP chase, which had not yet been reported to police.
Police are investigating and working with CHP officials to determine what took place before police contacted Navarra and he falsely reported his car stolen.
Navarra was arrested on suspicion of filing a false police report. He was booked at the Police Department and later released pending a court hearing.
Martinez and Clark were also arrested on suspicion of resisting and obstructing officers. They were booked at the Police Department and later released pending court, police said.
By Bay City News Service
Image via Shutterstock
