A 20-year-old man was arrested Saturday afternoon near Joshua Tree National Park after an 11-hour search that began when he allegedly got out of his vehicle following a police chase, fired a weapon and fled the scene.
No law enforcement officers were injured, according to a statement by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which assisted Riverside County Sheriff’s Department personnel.
Jonathan Rodriguez was arrested without incident, the statement said, about 2:22 p.m. Saturday at a home on Pueblo Trail in the small community of Joshua Tree, adjacent to the national park.
He had not yet been booked into the city’s Morongo Basin Jail as of early Saturday evening, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez said via email, adding that information about the suspect’s vehicle and the gun he allegedly fired were not available.
The arrest concluded a manhunt that began when Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies attempted to stop a vehicle near Camino Idilio and Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs for “a vehicle code violation,” according to a statement by the department.
Rodriguez allegedly failed to stop, so deputies pursued him onto I-10 headed west from Date Palm onto Highway 62, and then to Yucca Trail and Airway Avenue, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department statement.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s personnel took over the pursuit, and the chase ended on the 60800 block of Mountain View Trail, a stretch of picturesque road just outside the northwest border of Joshua Tree National Park. Rodriguez allegedly exited his vehicle, “fired several rounds from a firearm,” then fled, the San Bernardino County statement said.
The investigation into the incident continues, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities asked anyone with relevant information to call the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dispatch at (909) 387-8313 or anonymously provide information at (800) 782-7463 or www.wetip.com.