UPDATED: HEMET: DA GTF member injured apprehending suspect after dangerous pursuit

UPDATED/CORRECTED: Friday, Mar. 16, 11:30 p.m. With additional info and details from HPD Chief Webb.

HEMET — A member of the District Attorney’s office assigned to the City of Hemet PD’s Gang Impact Team was injured yesterday afternoon while helping other officers apprehend a man who had just led authorities on a dangerous pursuit in a stolen vehicle, according to officials. The Task Force official was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

Previous reports that a Hemet Police officer was injured were later corrected by Hemet PD Chief Rob Webb, who clarified that while Hemet PD officers were present during the arrest, no officers were injured.

The short chase wound through north through Hemet into San Jacinto and back into Hemet again and ended after the suspect plowed into a padlocked gate.

Despite crashing, the suspect fled on foot into a nearby automotive business where he tried to hide under a vehicle being worked on, causing terrified employees to flee from the building as officers stormed in and apprehended the violently resisting subject.

After his arrest, Esai German Corona, 21, of Hemet, was booked into Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of resisting arrest causing injury to an officer, recklessly evading police, evading a peace officer by driving into oncoming traffic, possession of burglary tools and possession of a stolen vehicle. All are felony charges.

The incident began about 3:24 p.m., when members of Hemet’s Gang Impact Team  spotted a stolen purple 1993 two-door Honda running red lights and driving at a high rate of speed in the area of N. State Street and E. Latham Avenue. When the officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the stolen car the driver, later identified as Corona, refused to yield to the officer’s lights and siren and sped away, at which time GTF officers initiated a vehicle pursuit.

During the chase Corona reached speeds in excess of 70 mph and drove in an extremely reckless manner – without regard for the safety of other motorists, pedestrians or pursuing officers. In addition to running red lights and stop signs, Corona was seen driving on the wrong side of the road, swerving recklessly and driving at high-speed through residential neighborhoods.

The short chase, which lasted several minutes, traveled north and south on State Street and east and west on Fruitvale Avenue and ended about one mile from where it began. According to witnesses the pursuit also traveled along Buena Vista, Devonshire and other streets within residential tracts.

Corona eventually led officers into a neighborhood, west of Buena Vista Street and Fruitvale Avenue, and then down a small access road off Roxanne Drive where he crashed into a padlocked gate and fled on foot from the vehicle.

After crashing into the gate, which sits directly adjacent to Searl Youth Sports Park, Corona fled westbound across what was once a set of railroad tracks and then ran into an industrial business and automotive repair complex at 980 N. State Street, just north of the Hemet Superior Court complex.

With sirens blaring and lights flashing, officers from Hemet PD, Hemet’s Gang Impact Team, and CHP converged on the scene from every direction, sending stunned parents and children running for cover.

With officers hot on his heels, Corona fled into Contreras Auto Electric, causing an employee and mechanic to flee from the business just as officers stormed the building and apprehended the violently resisting man.

Within moments of the arrest, officials requested medical personnel and an ambulance to the scene for a member of the DA’s office assigned to Hemet’s Gang Impact Team who was injured during the apprehension.

According to one witness at the scene who requested to remain anonymous the DA official appeared “very winded.” The nature and extent of the official’s injuries were not immediately known and Hemet PD has not yet released any information regarding the official’s status.

While officers searched Corona next to a patrol vehicle, shocked employees from throughout the complex, drawn out of their businesses by all the sirens and commotion, watched on in disbelief. One later said he was left wondering what had just happened that briefly changed his boring work day into a day to remember.

Witnesses who took to social media while the pursuit was still in progress reported multiple near-collisions while others reported on and angrily discussed Corona’s reckless driving actions and lack of regard for his or other’s safety.

One witness, Keith Werts from Hemet, said he saw the pursuit as it passed his place of employment and he described seeing “12 to 15” officers chasing Corona as he continued trying to evade police.

San Jacinto resident Alison Jones took the time to thank the officers from the involved agencies for apprehending Corona and she described how she and her family were almost hit by Corona during the chase.

“We were almost hit by this crazy driver,” Jones explained. “We were at the light waiting to turn left at Esplanade and State and we saw the car coming towards us, driving fast in the turning lane coming right towards us.”

“I closed my eyes, said a prayer, heard him slam on the breaks and swerve,” said Jones who said Corona’s vehicle barely missed hers.

“We are just so glad it ended safely without him causing an accident,” Jones said after hearing the pursuit had come to a safe conclusion. “God is good.”

“It’s just ridiculous,” Betty Wurthers – who resides in Anza but was in Hemet shopping -said of Corona and after the pursuit. “It’s just not right that these criminals think they can run amok and endanger the lives of everyone around them.”

“It’s just not right,” Wurthers continued, “that the good citizens of this valley live in constant, daily fear of what crazy crap the next idiot is going to try.”

An online jail record search revealed Corona remains in custody, held on $100,000 bail and he is scheduled to be arraigned at Southwest Justice Center, Mar. 19

Anyone with information about this incident or arrest is encouraged to contact Hemet PD at (951) 765-2400. Callers can refer to incident file number 18-2631 and can remain anonymous.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.