Unlicensed Napa Driver Surrenders After Slow Speed Chase

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A Napa man who allegedly failed to stop when driving through a Petaluma intersection and then led officers on a several-mile slow-speed chase through town has been arrested.

Just before noon on Feb. 18, Petaluma Police Department Officer Eduardo Estrella was conducting traffic enforcement at the intersection on Creekside Drive and Maria Drive, which is located in a residential neighborhood and controlled by stop signs.

Officer Estrella observed a copper colored Chevy truck traveling northbound on Maria Drive approaching the intersection, then slow to about 10 mph and continue through the intersection failing to stop at the marked limit line.

Estrella then attempted to pull the suspect vehicle over, but the driver, identified as Napa resident Jason Roy Thomas, 47, failed to yield and led the officer on a slow speed pursuit. Additional Petaluma Police Officers joined the pursuit and assisted in the attempts to pull over Thomas.

The chase lasted about 11 minutes and traveled seven miles before Thomas stopped his vehicle at the intersection of Lakeville Hwy and Highway 116 (Stage Gulch Rd.) and was taken into custody.

A records check revealed that Thomas’s driver's license was revoked from a prior traffic related offense. His vehicle was subsequently impounded and he was later booked at the Sonoma County Jail on charges of evading a police officer and driving on a suspended license.

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