On Tuesday, September 28th, 2021, at 12:30 am, a Turlock Police officer at the intersection of West Ave N and Florence St on-viewed a vehicle traveling westbound on Florence St at high rates of speed. The officer caught up to the vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop on it when its driver, later identified as Laurence Lucas, 42, of Turlock, took off.
Lucas led the officer southbound on N Soderquist Rd before turning eastbound onto Vermont Ave and leg-bailing from the vehicle near Sunnyside Dr. The officer chased Lucas for a short while on foot before he decided to surrender.
When Lucas leg bailed from the vehicle, he had left it in gear and as a result, it had struck a parked vehicle.
Speeds during the pursuit reached about 70 miles per hour.
Lucas was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of flight from a peace officer with disregard to public safety, resisting a peace officer, hit and run with property damage, driving with a suspended license, possession of methamphetamines and possession of drug paraphernalia.
