Man Wanted In Pleasant Hill Leads Cops On Chase In Stolen Car: PD

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Neighbors near Del Amigo High School in Danville awoke Thursday to heavy police activity that ended in the arrest of a parolee who had stolen a car and was wanted by the Pleasant Hill Police Department on suspicion of residential burglary, officials are reporting. Around 2:30 a.m. Danville police officers were called to the area of Danville Boulevard and Camille Avenue to assist a Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy who was involved in a vehicle pursuit that was heading toward the Town, according to Danville police Chief Allan Shields.

The multi-agency chase started in Pleasant Hill after the male suspect — later identified as 46-year-old Millbrae resident Richard Murray — reportedly failed to stop for officers there who flagged the car he was driving as stolen.

During the Danville portion of the pursuit, the suspect abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot in the 300 block of Del Amigo Road, Shields said. He was eventually spotted in a drainage ditch near Camino Encanto, Del Amigo Road and Emerald Drive.

Danville officers nabbed the suspect and turned him over to the Pleasant Hill Police Department; the stolen vehicle he used to flee was also turned over to the PHPD, Shields said.

Murray was booked at Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of auto theft, residential burglary, evading police and a parole violation, according to Pleasant Hill police Sgt. Brian Leonard. Pleasant Hill police officers determined Murray had broken into a home in the middle of the night, stolen the victim's car keys and fled in the vehicle, Leonard said.