Saul Alenjandro Galarza Castellano, 26, of San Jose was arrested by Ceres Police on Wednesday morning, July 18 after he led officers on a short chase while he was riding a mini-bike.

Officer Jesus Salinas was patrol in the area of Central and Whitmore avenues at 11:55 a.m. when he got behind a 2014 Honda motorcycle with a missing license plate. He tried to conduct a stop on the rider at Central/El Camino avenues but Galarza kept riding at a slow pace, and acted so though he was stopping at a downtown gas station but kept going. The pursuit continued throughout the block, going through parking lots and over sidewalks and curbs. 

 At the Whitmore Liquor parking lot, Officer Izquierdo tried to block the rider’s path but he was able to get around and drive westbound Whitmore Avenue against traffic on the overpass where another driver had to stop to avoid a collision. Galarza drove to the left to avoid being hit and then drove back in the westbound lanes of Whitmore Avenue and continued at about 45 mph. 

Officer Izquierdo drove alongside the mini-bike while Sgt. Trenton Johnson drove in front of the rider as they approached Lodi Avenue. They boxed him into slow the rider and push him off the shoulder of the road. While performing the maneuver the rear tire of the motorcycle got stuck under the push bumper of Salinas’ patrol vehicle enabling it from moving. The rider was still on the bike revving it to flee further but the bike was stuck. That’s when the suspect was arrested.

The rider said he was trying to get away because he felt like he was doing no wrong. However, he was riding on a suspended driver’s license. He was booked for evading police, driving on a suspended license and other vehicle code violations.