Stolen Car Chase Plows Through Park During IE Little League Game

FONTANA, CA — A man fleeing officers in a stolen car filled with thousands of dollars worth of stolen merchandise drove through a crowd at an Inland Empire Little League game before he was ultimately arrested, according to the Fontana Police Department.

Sergio Ortega, 46, of Pasadena, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of felony evading while driving the wrong way, as well as disregard for public safety. Police caught up with him at 1:15 p.m. on Lemon Court, an address near the Jack Bulik Sports Park, where the baseball games were taking place.

There were approximately 200 people at the Sportspark fields that day, according to witnesses, who said the driver sped through pedestrian walkways between playing fields at the Little League game.

The suspect was arrested blocks away, on Lemon Court. Before he was taken into custody, officers were forced to use a PIT maneuver. No one was hurt during the incident, according to Fontana Police Sgt. Nathan Wieske.

Wieske defended officers' decision to chase the suspect through the park crowded with Little League players and families.

"The officer felt it necessary to keep the siren going to let people know, ‘Hey, this guy’s driving through the park,’ to warn them and get people out of harm’s way,” he told KTLA. “If you put yourself in a position where the officer had not notified the public that this guy had driven into a park, then nobody knows he’s coming and hits somebody and then what?”

The vehicle pursuit began after officials say he burglarized a Burlington clothing store in Rialto and escaped with more than $1,000 in merchandise, according to Wieske.

Jail records show that he faces charges in the city of Rialto for burglary and the county of Los Angeles regarding the stolen vehicle. He is being held at San Bernardino County's West Valley Jail in Rancho Cucamonga on $1 million bail and is awaiting a court date at Rancho Superior Court on June 8, according to county jail records.