A 36-year-old Modesto man failed to shake the trail of Ceres Police after he fled from a crash in Ceres and was ultimately arrested in Westley on the county’s west side Monday evening.

At approximately 5:39 p.m., Officers Ian Perry and Isaac Carter were dispatched to a business in the 2500 block of Whitmore Avenue for a report of a silver Jeep that hit a metal pole in the parking lot. The reporting party said that persons in the Jeep appeared to be intoxicated.

The officers arrived on scene to find the driver of the Jeep, Martin Gourley, 36, of Modesto, threw it in reverse and sped off in a reckless manner. Officers jumped back into their vehicles and pursued the Jeep but the driver failed to yield and a pursuit was on. The Ceres officers asked for helicopter support from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office. Once the helicopter crew tracked the Jeep, officers terminated the ground pursuit but continued to follow from an unseen distance.

The pursuit lasted for about 23 miles until Gourley pulled over in Westley and was arrested. He was arrested on a charge of for felony evading and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center.