In a high-speed chase, American Canyon law enforcement officials snagged a prowler behind the wheel right out of Yolo County. According to the American Canyon Police Department's official social media page, the drama unfolded early Monday morning when officers spotted the stolen Ford truck on Highway 29 near Paoli Loop Road around 5:30 AM.
The man took off, flirting with disaster as he gunned it towards Napa, leaving the coppers eating dust. The police made a valiant attempt to make a traffic stop, but the suspect, 33-year-old Oakland native Thomas Melching, wasn't about to pull over.
The pursuit barreled into Napa, where Melching's getaway dream crashed. Authorities report that Melching made an undesirable acquaintance with an oncoming motorist and a parked car on Soscol Avenue. True to the script of a man who'd bet against the law, he ditched the truck and made a run for it, leaving chaos in his wake.
But Melching's freedom was short-lived. With a little backup from the Napa County Sheriff's Deputies and Napa Police Officers, the American Canyon Police Department slapped the cuffs on him a short distance from the crash. Melching, a man already acquainted with the system, was on PRCS in San Joaquin County for identity theft, with two felony warrants waving his name in Yolo County.
For his latest escapade, Melching was charged with felony evading an officer, resisting arrest, hit and run, receiving stolen property, and possession of methamphetamine, as detailed by American Canyon Police. The other driver walked away from the crash without a scratch, while Melching was booked into the Napa Department of Corrections.
