Four New York men in a car carrying marijuana and cash rolled off Highway 101 near West Road Tuesday while trying to elude capture, the California Highway Patrol reported.
According to CHP Capt. Bruce Carpenter, an officer monitoring highway traffic near the West Road off-ramp clocked a red Jeep Laredo “heading northbound at about 101 miles an hour” and initiated a traffic stop shortly after 1 p.m. April 4.
Carpenter said the Jeep initially stopped for the officer and he briefly made contact with the driver, but then the suspect “threw it into gear and drove off” up to Uva Drive, then turned around and headed across the overpass to the on-ramp to southbound Hwy. 101.
However, Carpenter said the driver swerved to avoid another vehicle after running a stop sign and then lost control of the vehicle and it went down the embankment, rolling over at least once before stopping.
Carpenter said some of the men tried to run away, and a witness saw them throw what turned out to be a garbage bag full of marijuana and “at least a few thousand dollars worth of cash” over a nearby fence.
Carpenter said the officer detained the men and recovered the drugs and cash. At about 3 p.m., Carpenter said the Jeep had just been pulled back onto the highway and officers were still searching it.
The names of the suspects were not immediately available, but Carpenter said they were all residents of New York driving a car rented in Los Angeles. He said all four suffered “minor to moderate injuries” and all were transported to local hospitals; at least one was reportedly airlifted.
Carpenter said the driver is likely facing charges of eluding and the man who tried to throw away the drugs is also likely facing charges.
More information will be provided when it is released by the CHP. The Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department, Cal Fire, VeriHealth ambulance and Calstar also responded.
