High-Speed Chases, Two Stolen Cars, One Arrest

Police arrested a suspected car thief early Thursday and spent more than an hour scouring for a second unrelated theft suspect a day later.

The first chase started around 1:20 a.m. Thursday and took police all over San Ramon.

An officer saw a fast-driving car and started to follow it, but it wouldn't slow down, said Lt. Mike Boehrer of the San Ramon Police Department.

The chase ended when officers found the car unoccupied on Toluca Drive, Boehrer said.

"We figured he was in one of the houses, so we made contact with the driver and he punched an officer," Boehrer said.

San Ramon resident Adam Warholic, 25, was booked at the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of evading a peace officer, battery of a police officer, resisting arrest and a probation violation.

A second chase that started around 3 a.m. Friday ended without an arrest.

An officer tried pulling over the driver of a Honda Civic for a violation, but the car didn't yield, police said. The car's plates came up in a registry of stolen vehicles, Boehrer said.

The driver jetted down Bollinger Canyon Road at speeds of 60 to 70 mph all the way into Las Trampas, where the driver smashed through two wood gates to get to the service road, according to police.

The driver left the car at the bottom of a hill and disappeared into the dark. Authorities called in a police dog and back-up officers to help in the unsuccessful hour-and-a-half search.

San Ramon police asked for help from the East Bay Regional Parks District because they know the terrain better. They asked for a helicopter patrol, too, but that was denied.

The Honda was returned to its owner, a San Ramon resident.