A California Highway Patrol officer serving a search warrant at a San Fernando tow yard last month received an unpleasant surprise upon his arrival: The registered owner of a car had stopped by a few hours earlier with two others and removed “a large amount of property.”  “Trash and small articles of marijuana, commonly referred to as ‘shake,’ appeared to be the only items left strewn about the interior of the vehicle,” wrote the investigating officer, who also noted that he checked under the floor mats.   He was hoping to collect “bags of marijuana” and “the round of 9mm ammunition” that was left in the car as evidence to be collected following the Sept. 22 felony traffic stop two days prior.  Officers were still able to present a case involving two suspects and three felony charges based on the gun they recovered at the scene and evidence from their pursuit that night, according to court records available online.  The investigator was planning to search inside a 2012 Honda Civic that had its lights blacked out as it sped past two CHP officers in a patrol car on the northbound lanes of Highway 14, north of Interstate 5, according to a CHP report of the incident.  Traffic stop and pursuit  The officers conducted a traffic stop on three individuals, two men and a woman in the back seat, who appeared to be the girlfriend of the driver.  The officer said that on the driver’s side he observed signs of intoxication while the other officer indicated he could see a handgun on the floor that looked like someone was trying to conceal it.   “Officer Velasquez gave another verbal order to all three occupants of the (suspect’s vehicle) to keep their hands up where they could be seen, at which point the driver placed the (suspect’s vehicle) in gear and accelerated away at a high rate of speed, heading eastbound on Placerita Canyon Road,” according to evidence presented for a search warrant at the tow yard.  “The officers pursued the (suspect’s vehicle) as it fled with reckless and wanton disregard for the safety of others as its speeds reached 75-95 miles per hour in a posted 50 miles per hour zone, crossed over double yellow lines and ran stop signs,” the officer stated in his report.  As the driver passed Road Runner Road, the Civic drove onto the west shoulder of Sand Canyon Road and crashed into a raised concrete curb, with the force of the impact dislodging the front-left wheel from the car, according to the officer.   That didn’t stop the driver, who merged back onto the roadway and headed north on Sand Canyon Road toward Lost Canyon Road.  After blowing through the stop sign, the car finally stopped on Sand Canyon Road, just south of the Santa Clara River, per the report in court records   The driver ran from the car toward the river, according to officers, while the 34-year-old man and 38-year-old woman stayed behind.  Not sure if a weapon was still in the car, the incident led to a nearly 90-minute standoff as CHP officers at the scene waited for K-9 units to arrive. The man and woman left the car after the K-9 units arrived.  Criminal charges  Neither cooperated with officers, per the report. The woman was cited and released at the scene and the man was booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station jail.  Officers later recovered the handgun on a dirt shoulder on the right side of the road, just east of where the pursuit initiated, according to courthouse records.  The CHP officer later determined who the driver was based on evidence found in the vehicle combined with a past encounter.   The investigators reported that both men in the vehicle have histories of “multiple felony convictions, that include drug, assault and theft charges.   The driver, Jhonny Ayala, was later arrested Oct. 2 and is now being held in lieu of more than $1.1 million bail in Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Downtown Los Angeles.  He’s due back in court Oct. 15 for a preliminary hearing on three felony charges, including evading arrest, carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a handgun.  Ayala’s codefendant, Erick Umberto Hernandez, had a pair of charges dismissed, but is still being charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun.  He’s being held in lieu of $185,000 bail, also in Downtown Los Angeles, and due back in court Oct. 21.   The post Court records: Evidence missing from tow yard after pursuit  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.