Police Arrest Forgery Suspect After Chase

Officers and police dogs found a forgery suspect in a Camarillo backyard after a freeway chase Wednesday afternoon.

The pursuit began just after noon at The Esplanade mall when Oxnard Officer Joe Johnson confronted a man suspected of using someone else’s credit card at Sears. The man ran to his red Jeep Cherokee and drove away, said Officer Alex Rangel.

The suspect, later identified by Rangel as Alfred Mario Deveaux, 40, of Los Angeles, got on the northbound Ventura Freeway at Vineyard Avenue, with Johnson and two other Oxnard patrol cars in pursuit.

After doubling back on the freeway, the suspect headed toward Camarillo, and sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers joined in the chase, which reached speeds of 100 mph.

After two detours onto city streets, the suspect ditched the vehicle on the freeway shoulder near Camarillo High School and ran into a nearby neighborhood, police said.

With assistance from sheriff’s deputies in a helicopter, officers using police dogs began a house-to-house search.

At about 12:30 p.m., Deveaux was found hiding under a large barbecue cover in a backyard in the 100 block of Via Cantilena. He was arrested by Oxnard officers without further incident, authorities said.