Citizens JournalOn Sunday night, December 21st, at about 7:53 P.M. the Simi Valley Police Department received a call from a concerned citizen reporting a possible driver under the influence in the area of Los Angeles Ave. at Stearns St.
The citizen followed the driver to the area of Los Angeles Ave.at Yosemite Ave. The driver pulled into the Alliance Gas Station at the corner of the intersection. A Simi Valley Police Officer arrived at the gas station and when he tried to make contact with the driver, the driver sped off into the nearby shopping center parking lot.
The officer returned to his car and tried to pursue the vehicle, but lost sight of the vehicle as it sped away eastbound on Los Angeles Ave. towards Kuehner Dr. A few minutes later, the Police Department received reports the vehicle may have driven into the parking lot of the shopping center at the intersection of Kuehner at Katherine Rd.
Officers located and vehicle and once again tried to contact the driver. The driver sped away from the officers, ramming an occupied police car in the process. The officers chased the suspect vehicle briefly until the driver stopped in the 2100 block. of Cheam Ave. and ran from the vehicle.
Additional officers arrived in the area and a perimeter was established. The L.A.P.D. responded to the S.V.P.D.’s request for an airship to assist. While the air crew was overhead, they identified a possible hiding location in the rear yard of a home near the end of the pursuit. With the air crew’s guidance, S.V.P.D. officers checked the yard in question with the assistance of a police canine. The canine located the suspect hiding in the yard. The suspect was arrested in the yard after sustaining a dog bite from the canine.
The suspect was identified as 26 yr. old Simi Valley resident Kenny Paez.
Paez was taken to the Simi Valley Hospital via ambulance where he was treated for a dog bite on his arm. He was later released from the hospital and booked into the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of:
245 P.C. – Assault with a deadly weapon on an officer (ramming the officer’s police car)
2800 V.C. – Reckless evading
148 P.C. – Obstructing/resisting an officer
Simi Valley Police Department