Associated Press
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — A domestic violence suspect who led police on a televised chase through Orange County with his two sons and their mother in the car, then fled into the fog after an hourslong standoff, was arrested Tuesday night.
Thomas Ueno, 35, was taken into custody by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who caught up to him on a street in Cerritos, Sgt. Vincent Plair said.
Authorities have been hunting for Ueno after he led police on a chase Monday evening with his family in the car.
The pursuit began when the woman, who had filed a restraining order against Ueno, sent police a message that she was being held against her will, police told the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/1RkOneD).
Authorities tracked Ueno, the woman and their 1-year-old and 6-year-old sons to Buena Park.
The woman’s gray Hummer was spotted and chased by Buena Park police after it refused to pull over.
The chase, which also involved the California Highway Patrol, ranged from a slow crawl through traffic to 70 mph on a freeway, authorities said.
In Newport Beach, the car’s battery died and the Hummer stopped, CHP Officer Florentino Olivera told the Register.
Ueno and his family were in the Hummer for about three hours — although Ueno got out and back in several times. Finally, around 10 p.m., the woman and children got out of the Hummer and ran toward police while Ueno raced off into the fog, authorities said.
A CHP officer fired three or four beanbag shots at him, Olivera said.
Witness Michael Hicks says he was confronted by the suspect as he ran from police on foot.
Hicks said he heard shots and then saw a man in a hoodie running toward him, yelling “I’m hit, I’m hit, they shot me,” he told KABC-TV (http://bit.ly/1RERVLs).
“I’m in shock. I don’t know if he’s got a gun, so he asked me to get him out of there,” Hicks said. “I didn’t say anything, but I made sure to watch where he went ... The police came up, and I pointed out where he jumped over the fence.”
Police searched door-to-door in a nearby gated community but couldn’t find Ueno. While he was on the run, police warned that Ueno has been known to carry guns and should be considered armed and dangerous.
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