Crime & Safety

Two Arrested After High-speed Chase Near Graton Casino

Police say the suspect drove at more than 80 mph and was weaving between other cars on the roadway.

Two men were arrested after a high-speed chase that began near the newly opened Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park early Thursday morning, according to police.

Shortly before 1:30 a.m., a Rohnert Park police officer initiated a traffic stop on a utility truck with its headlights off at the intersection of Golf Course West Drive and Labath Avenue.

According to police, the driver, who had a passenger in the truck, slowed down and yelled to the officer that there was an emergency that he had to attend to and drove off toward Stony Point Road, traveling at about 55 mph. The officer turned on his lights and siren and followed the vehicle -- a white boom truck with dual rear wheels -- as it continued north onto Stony Point Road, reaching speeds of 90 mph, police said.

Rohnert Park police then pursued the truck onto southbound U.S. Highway 101, and California Highway Patrol and Sonoma County sheriff's deputies joined the chase.

On the highway, the suspect drove at more than 80 mph and was weaving between other cars on the roadway, according to police.

CHP officers eventually placed a spike strip out at the state Highway 116 junction. Four of truck's six tires were deflated by the spike strip, and the driver exited the highway at Petaluma Boulevard South.

Both the driver and the passenger jumped out of the truck while it was still moving and attempted to run from law enforcement officers. The passenger was immediately taken into custody. The driver ran about 100 yards up a steep embankment before he was apprehended, police said.

The driver, identified as 38-year-old Ryan James Campbell, from the Richmond area, was wanted on a no-bail arrest warrant out of Napa County, and the truck he was driving was determined to have been stolen, according to police.

He was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, evading officers, and for the warrant.

The passenger, 59-year-old Doug McCarty, also from the Richmond area, was booked for evading officers and for possession of stolen property, according to police.

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