Following a high-speed chase through downtown Morgan Hill, police arrested a parolee who was released from prison early through a state program designed to keep the population of non-violent inmates low, authorities said.
Also arrested in the incident was the parolee’s girlfriend, who bailed from the stolen gold Toyota Camry on foot when officers made their first attempt to stop the vehicle, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Troy Hoefling.
About 8:15 p.m. Friday, MHPD officers tried to stop the stolen vehicle near the intersection of Monterey and Watsonville roads in south Morgan Hill, police said.
The driver yielded near the intersection of Monterey Road and Vineyard Boulevard, and as soon as the Camry pulled up to the curb the passenger’s door opened. The female passenger fled on foot, and the Camry continued north on Monterey Road.
One of the two officers in the patrol vehicle left the vehicle and chased the women, later identified as Amber Yarnell, 21 of San Jose, Hoefling said.
Yarnell was apprehended by the officer “almost immediately.”
The other officer continued to follow the Camry, which reached speeds more than 70 mph on Monterey Road, police said. The fleeing driver turned off the vehicle’s headlights and passed other vehicles on the roadway’s right shoulder.
The officer called off the chase due to the suspect’s dangerous driving, Hoefling said.
Less than two minutes later, MHPD dispatch received a call of a collision near Monterey Road and Wright Avenue involving two vehicles, police said. Officers arrived, and witnesses pointed to the direction in which the suspect was seen fleeing the scene.
Police confirmed the vehicle involved in the collision was the Camry that authorities attempted to stop earlier, police said. The occupants of the second vehicle involved in the collision were transported to San Jose Regional Hospital for complaints of pain.
The suspect driving the stolen Camry, later identified as Alexander Zumini, 22 of San Jose, was found hiding in some trees east of Central High School on Monterey Road, Hoefling said.
Zumini was taken into custody without incident, and booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of hit and run, evading, possession of a stolen vehicle, felony DUI causing injury and resisting arrest.
He was also determined to be a parolee released early from prison under the state’s Post Release Community Supervision program, which was passed by the state last year to lower the prison population by releasing low-level and non-serious offenders to county supervision, police said.
Zumini was on parole for a previous conviction on a vehicle theft, with other prior convictions, Hoefling said.
Yarnell was arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, Hoefling said.
Anyone with more information on this case can call Morgan Hill police at (408) 779-2101, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.
