ROHNERT PARK (KRON) — Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety officers arrested a transient early Thursday morning on suspicion of vehicle theft after a pursuit late Wednesday night.
At about 11:45 p.m., a patrol officer tried to stop a white Ford van on Rohnert Park Expressway near the northbound U.S. Highway 101 on-ramp, but the van drove over the raised center divider to a park-and-ride lot, public safety officers said.
The officer pursued the van into the lot then back over the divider and to the on-ramp again. The van fled the officer at 85 mph on northbound Highway 101 and then onto northbound Santa Rosa Avenue, according to the department.
The van drove through a locked gate, around a building and through a fence. The patrol car became stuck on the gate, ending the five-minute, 2.3-mile pursuit, public safety officers said.
A citizen called the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to report a white van on Fleming Way off Santa Rosa Avenue in unincorporated Sonoma County. The van’s engine was still running but the driver had fled, according to the department.
A Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy saw a man walking around 1 a.m. today in a closed area at the rear of the Pacific Pride gas station on Santa Rosa Avenue. He was identified as Michael Iervolino, 23, and the Rohnert Park officer identified him as the van driver, public safety officers said.
Iervolino was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and evading officers. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon in Sonoma County Superior Court.