People v. Gillean CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A California Highway Patrol officer was monitoring the Central Expressway carpool lane when a male driver passed him in a Honda Prelude. The officer pulled his motorcycle in behind the Prelude, and the driver, whom the officer later identified as defendant, failed to yield to the officer’s lights and siren. Defendant then led the officer on a five- to seven-minute high-speed chase during the Silicon Valley rush hour. Defendant drove on shoulders, across multiple lanes of traffic, against traffic, at unsafe speeds, and with disregard for the safety of other drivers. Due to the danger posed by defendant’s driving, the officer ended his pursuit and instead drove to the San Jose address where the car was registered to a female sharing defendant’s surname. Neither the car, the registered owner, nor defendant were at the residence. The officer spoke with the property owner who related that defendant had left in the Prelude about an hour earlier. The officer returned to his office, where he viewed a DMV photo of defendant and recognized him as the driver. He also learned that defendant’s driver’s license was suspended. Defendant was charged with reckless driving while…