A convicted felon accused of stealing a car and leading sheriff’s deputies on a pursuit in San Jacinto and Hemet was charged Thursday with felony evading and other offenses.
Pedro Pineda, 29, was arrested Saturday following the roughly 5-mile chase that ended with him allegedly bailing out of the vehicle and attempting to elude deputies on foot.
Along with the evading count, Pineda is charged with vehicle theft, possession of methamphetamine and a sentence-enhancing allegation of being a repeat car thief.
The defendant was arraigned Thursday afternoon before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Jan. 31 at the Banning Justice Center and ordered Pineda held in lieu of $75,000 bail at the nearby Smith Correctional Facility.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Wade Lenton, about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Pineda was allegedly spotted at the wheel of a sedan reported stolen, prompting deputies to initiate a traffic stop at Lake Park Drive and the Ramona Expressway in San Jacinto.
“The driver fled from law enforcement and drove in a reckless manner through the city,” Lenton said.
He said that patrolmen backed off out of concern for public safety, turning the chase over to a sheriff’s helicopter crew, monitoring from overhead.
A few minutes later, Pineda stopped in the 700 block of La Jolla Avenue, near Oakland Avenue, in Hemet, where he jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a neighborhood, Lenton alleged.
He said deputies swarmed the area and quickly apprehended the defendant without further incident.
No one was injured.
According to court records, Pineda has prior convictions connected with thefts, as well as criminal threats, in Santa Clara County.