A California 17-year-old is in custody after leading law enforcement agency officers on a chase in Cochise County.
According to the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, on Sunday January 14, 2024 at approximately 8:24 am, deputies shared information regarding two vehicles travelling in tandem in the Moson Road area that were travelling at excessive speeds.
The vehicle descriptions were provided as a gray Honda Civic and a gray Lexus both with California plate and both travelling towards Sierra Vista.
Sierra Vista Police reported that the Honda Civic passed through the intersection of Coronado and Highway 90 at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour with no one following. The vehicle was ultimately stopped by Sierra Vista Police units.
Huachuca City Police officers observed a gray Lexus travelling north on Highway 90 inside the city limits travelling at 67 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. Upon attempting to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle, it failed to yield and increased speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour.
Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers staged at the US Border Patrol checkpoint to deploy tire deflation devices and upon the suspect vehicle approaching, the driver aggressively travelled between vehicles in the lanes of travel, preventing the safe deployment of the device.
The vehicle continued northbound at excessive speeds and Huachuca City and Sheriff’s deputies terminated the pursuit.
The vehicle approached the intersection of Highway 90 and Interstate 10 before crashing the vehicle and attempting to flee on foot. The suspect was apprehended by Benson Police, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Sheriff’s Office, and US Border Patrol agents on scene.
The driver, US Citizen 17-year-old Steven Paul Cardena of Carmichael California, was taken into custody and booked into the Cochise County Jail on felony charges of Human Smuggling and Endangerment. Cardena remains in custody on a $100,000 bond.
Three undocumented immigrants were turned over to US Border Patrol for processing.