A 40-year-old man was charged Thursday with attempting to run over two teenage boys in Santa Ana.
Police were called about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday about a vehicle attempting to run over pedestrians in a passenger van at MacArthur Intermediate School, police said. According to the criminal complaint, one victim was a 14-year-old boy and the other was a 13-year-old boy.
When responding officers attempted to stop the driver he led them on a chase that ended when he careened into a water channel at 3000 S. Flower St. and overturned the van, police said. The car caught fire and the suspect bailed and tried to run away from officers, police said. Police found him hiding in a drainage tunnel, police said.
Nicolas M. Sanudo was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count each of vandalism and leading police on a chase, all felonies, as well as single misdemeanor counts each of hit and run with property damage and resisting arrest. He pleaded not guilty and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for March 3 in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Sanudo was also charged with vandalism of Santa Ana Unified School District property, according to the complaint.