The incident started at about 0545 am in the Lodi/Galt area. Lodi resident, 34 year old Ronnie Ledesma, was suspected of driving a stolen Nissan Sentra. Officers initiated a vehicle stop, but Ledesma decided not to yield to the officers. Instead, Ledesma lead police on a high-speed chase from the Lodi area to Sacramento County during early morning commute traffic. John Hamilton in Live Copter 3 HD, captured the pursuit on film starting on north bound Highway 99 in the Elk Grove area to it's conclusion at Florin Road and Power Inn.

The California Highway Patrol had taken lead in the pursuit since it was occurring on a public highway. Units from other agencies trailed the pursuit, should their assistance be needed. Ledesma continued north bound on Highway 99 and then took the east bound Highway 50 exit. Ledesma stayed on Highway 50 for only a short time and exited south bound on 65th Expressway. Driving with wanton disregard for public safety, Ledesma blew through several controlled intersections and even drove on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic. As evident on the KCRA video, the California Highway Patrol and pursuing officers maintained a safe distance behind Ledesma, just keeping him in visual contact, in an effort to keep him from doing anything more erratic or dangerous to public safety. Ledesma continued south bound eventually ending up going east bound on Florin Road.

Upon approaching Power Inn Road, a north bound freight train was found to be an unexpected but welcome ally in helping stop the pursuit. Ledesma realized that his road trip had just come to a sudden end and that he had no where else to go. Instead of surrendering to pursuing officers, Ledesma slowed, left the Sentra in gear, foot bailed and let the car roll into a utility pole. As witnessed on the KCRA video, track and field is not Ledesma's forte, and he was quickly taken into custody without further incident.

We would like to acknowledge the skill and precision of the brave men and women of the California Highway Patrol and all of the officers and agencies involved in this pursuit. The pursuit lasted approximately 20 minutes and covered well over 40 miles at speeds in excess of 80 mph. To these officers credit, there were no injuries to the public or to officers, no traffic accidents or collisions, no damage to property (except minor damage when the suspect let the car roll into the utility pole) and this menace was captured and taken to jail. Outstanding job!!

Also worthy of special note, is the skill and precision of KCRA's helicopter pilot John Hamilton and his camera man. They stayed with the pursuit and called it with the efficiency of a well seasoned and veteran law enforcement crew. As all that fly law enforcement helicopters know, the cockpit can get very busy in a rapidly evolving event such as this one. John basically does the pilot and TFO's job flawlessly, and the camera man stays with the car, in the dark and in commute traffic and never looses it. All of you TFO's know that combination is quite a handfull in itself. Great job to the crew in KCRA's Live Copter 3 HD.

Please click on KCRA's links to watch the entire event: http://www.kcra.com/video/14648654/index.html?taf=sac
http://www.kcra.com/video/14651542/index.html?taf=sac