100+ MPH Car Chase in Davis Reported on Reddit

“A large white escalade truck goes FLYING by the ford (on Covell Boulevard) at about 100+ mph and gets almost airborne after hitting the guard rail.”

That story was posted by user dustimus11 on the website, Reddit, which you can find here: reddit.com/r/ucdavis. The story did not appear in local media.

Davis Police Lt. Paul Doroshov said today that the driver of the car was Davis resident Hugh Payne, 42, who was booked at the Yolo County Jail on charges of evading police.

Here a bit more from dustimus11’s initial witness account on Reddit:

I was the one who called the cops. CRAZY FREAKING STORY!! … He proceeded to run the F st light going maybe 70-80 mph. At this point he had a flat tire and SCREECHED TO a halt right in the middle of the road 100 ft past F. I screamed to my GF to stop and we pulled to the little yield spot merging onto Covell. I called 911 at this point.

Then it got a little weird. He started to [accelerate] to about 30 and slam on the brakes repeatedly. Each time ending with a very loud SCREEEECH … The truck took off down Covell going about 70 after about a minute of screeching. I told my GF to follow at a far distance so I could talk to the dispatcher. Within 1:30 a cop sped by us on our left and chased after the truck. Two more shortly followed

Saw the truck up on the curb and about 6 cop cars surrounding it just out front of the Dos/Safeway center. Looked like it was resolved at this point. Pretty freaky stuff because my GF has JUST changed lanes to pass the ford and had she not the situation could have been very different for us.

Have to applaud Davis PD and the dispatcher for their immediate response that probably saved lives. I was thinking it could have been a diabetic shock or something similar??

The majority of this account matches up with Lt. Doroshov’s report, except for the fact that the SUV was a Chevrolet Avalanche, not an Escalade. That's understandable: It can't be easy to spot the make of a car that's moving at such high speeds. 

“Based on the driving patterns, the officer suspected the driver may be intoxicated,” Doroshov told me today. “When the officer attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver failed to stop and accelerated away from the patrol car. The officer chased the driver westbound on Covell Blvd. He finally stopped on Covell west of Highway 113.”

If you ever see something in town, email me at justin.cox@patch.com and I'll do my best to pursue the answers. 

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