Cyclist Speeds Right Into Hands of Police

A motorcyclist led police on 45-minute chase over more than 100 miles Thursday but was caught when he left the Orange Freeway and drove right into a Brea Police shooting investigation.

The chase began at 11:32 a.m. when Santa Ana police attempted to stop Michael Charles McNall, 20, of Yorba Linda for speeding on Main Street near Owens Drive, according to Sgt. Rick Hicks of the Santa Ana Police Department. McNall failed to yield and, instead, headed for the Santa Ana Freeway.

From the northbound Santa Ana Freeway, McNall continued north onto the Orange Freeway, then west on the Foothill Freeway and south on the San Gabriel River Freeway.

McNall, riding a red and white Kawasaki motorcycle, then headed east on the Pomona Freeway and back to the southbound Orange Freeway at speeds of up to 130 m.p.h., Hicks said.

An Anaheim Police helicopter tracked McNall on his route along with Santa Ana police, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and Burbank police officers on the ground.

Intersection Blocked

But the pursuit ended at 12:16 p.m. when McNall took the Imperial Highway exit, “went westbound and found himself in the middle of this shooting investigation,” said Police Lt. Jim Winder of the Brea Police Department.

Officers had blocked off the intersection of Imperial Highway and State College Boulevard, near the Brea Mall, to investigate a report of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a parking lot.

“It’s about one-quarter mile from the off-ramp to where the (shooting) incident occurred,” Winder said. “There were police cars and ambulances and traffic everywhere. You can just imagine what that intersection looked like. (McNall) may have originally thought it was the Christmas traffic, but little did he know that the Brea police were a major part of that traffic tie-up.”

As McNall slowed to maneuver through the traffic, officers were able to take him into custody. He was later transferred to Santa Ana, where he was jailed on suspicion of evading officers, reckless driving, speeding and other Vehicle Code violations, Hicks said.

Meanwhile, the Brea shooting victim, who would not identify himself to police, was also in custody Thursday in the jail ward at UCI Medical Center in Orange. He apparently shot himself in the shoulder with a sawed-off shotgun. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing the weapon and a stolen Toyota truck, Winder said.