High-speed pursuit ends in arrest

An Anderson man fleeing law enforcement officers reached speeds of 115 miles per hour on Highway 299 before crashing on a dirt road and running from the vehicle, leaving his injured passenger behind, the California Highway Patrol said.

The CHP said Justin Amos Tharpe, 29, was driving a pickup westbound in excess of 95 mph on Highway 299 near Slattery Gulch around 4:40 p.m. June 22 when CHP Officer Richard Bennett attempted to stop him. Tharpe turned left onto Sky Ranch Road in an attempt to evade the officer, came upon the dead end and went off the road to make a U-turn, emerging from a cloud of dust and striking the patrol car, CHP spokesman Rob Lichney said.

The pickup backed up and drove around the patrol car, turning west on Highway 299 and exceeding 115 mph, passing vehicles on blind curves, including a big rig on the tight Lime Point curve, Lichney said. Finally the pickup turned up Brock Gulch Road, just east of Helena. The road turns to dirt, and Officer Bennett started to lose the pickup in the dust as well as having problems with his vehicle, which had been struck head-on.

The pickup went out of control on a left turn, going up an embankment, rolling and landing on its wheels. Tharpe ran down the steep embankment toward the North Fork Trinity River, and Officer Bennett got on the scene to find the passenger, April Renae Hilde, 47, also of Anderson, alone in the vehicle, Lichney said. Hilde had injuries to her hand, which was out the window when the vehicle rolled.

A helicopter and airplane from the CHP searched the area along with sheriff's deputies and CHP officers, but could not find Tharpe. At 11 p.m. he knocked on doors at the Trinity Canyon Lodge seeking help, and the occupants dialed 911. He was arrested without further incident.

Tharpe apparently fled because he mistakenly thought there was a parole warrant out for him, Lichney said.

He was cleared at the hospital and booked into the Trinity County Jail.

The CHP is recommending charges including evading while causing injury, assault with a deadly weapon for hitting the patrol car, two counts of hit and run, driving on a suspended license, resisting arrest, DUI causing injury and speeding.