Suspect fights Sonoma deputy after highspeed chase crash: sheriff
Jan 06, 2025
(KRON) -- A Concord resident allegedly fought with a Sonoma County deputy overnight Friday after leading them on a high-speed vehicle pursuit and crashing into a traffic signal pole, according to authorities.
A Sonoma County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) deputy first spotted the suspect’s black Ford Focus at 3:18 a.m. speeding on Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs. The deputy attempted to pull over the car near the Verano Avenue intersection, but the driver, later identified as 26-year-old Kevin Marquis Onyejekwe, continued on, sparking a high-speed pursuit, the sheriff’s office said.
During the car chase, Onyejekwe “drove recklessly,” SCSO said, and ran numerous red lights. At the intersection of West Napa Street, the suspect crashed the car into a traffic signal pole and fled on foot.
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The pursuing deputy followed Onyejekwe along West Napa Street toward downtown Sonoma for approximately 150 yards before tackling him to the ground. There, the sheriff’s office said, the deputy and Onyejekwe fought for two minutes in a struggle before more deputies arrived to make an arrest.
Inside Onyejekwe’s car, deputies said they found a stolen, loaded Sig Sauer handgun along with ammunition of different calibers, psilocybin mushrooms, suspected cocaine and paraphernalia related to selling narcotics.
(Sonoma County Sheriff's Office)(Sonoma County Sheriff's Office)
Onyejekwe was arrested and booked for the following charges:
Prohibited person in possession of a firearm
Prohibited person in possession of ammunition
Carrying a loaded firearm in public
Possession of narcotics for sale
Transportation of narcotics
Possession of narcotics while armed with a firearm
Possession of stolen property
Possession of narcotics
Fleeing the scene of a traffic accident
Resisting arrest
Vehicle pursuit
Bail was set at $30,000, SCSO said. Authorities also determined that Onyejekwe had three outstanding arrest warrants, including one from San Jose and two from Pittsburg.