The following is a press release issued by the Ukiah Police Department. This has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
On 01-18-2024, at approximately 2101 hours, a Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Officer was on uniform patrol in a marked UPD patrol vehicle, traveling northbound in the 1000 block of North State Street. The Officer heard a loud engine and screeching tires west of his location near Elm Street. As the Officer traveled northbound he looked to the west and observed a maroon, Chevrolet Tahoe traveling northbound through the intersection of Garrett Drive and Elm Street at an extremely high rate of speed.
The Officer continued northbound on N. State Street, and turned westbound onto Bricarelli Drive. The Officer again observed the Chevrolet Tahoe traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Elm Street. As the Officer turned northbound onto Elm Street he observed the Chevrolet Tahoe run the stop sign (violation of 22450(a) VC) at the intersection of Elm Street and Empire Drive, turning eastbound towards N. State Street. Due to the high rate of speed the suspect was traveling, the Officer lost sight of the vehicle as he approached the intersection of Empire Drive and N. State Street. Shortly after losing sight of the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Officer observed headlights traveling northbound through the parking lot of Honey Fluff Donuts (1296 N. State Street). The Chevrolet Tahoe exited the parking lot onto Empire Drive and narrowly avoided colliding into the Officer’s patrol vehicle.
The Officer activated his overhead emergency lights and sirens in an attempt to conduct a traffic enforcement stop on the Chevrolet Tahoe, for reckless driving and the stop sign violation. The driver, later identified as Aaron Norbury, failed to yield to the Officer’s lights and sirens and traveled back westbound onto Empire Drive, then turned southbound onto Elm Street. Norbury turned eastbound onto Bricarelli Drive then turned northbound onto N. State Street. The Officer repeatedly activated his sirens in an attempt to gain compliance from Norbury with negative results.
Norbury turned into the parking lot of the Raley’s Supermarket (1315 N. State Street) just north of the Speedway Gas Station (1301 N. State Street), then exited the parking lot on the north side of In-N-Out Burger (1351 N. State Street). Norbury accelerated rapidly northbound on N. State Street swerving all over the roadway displaying driving patterns of a subject operating a vehicle under the influence.
The UPD Officer requested the assistance from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) as he pursued Norbury. Norbury accelerated in an attempt to elude the Officer. As Norbury continued northbound, he passed Hensley Creek Road and the roadway took a slight right sweeping turn near Thurston Auto Plaza (2800 N. State Street). As the UPD officer approached Thurston Auto Plaza, he noticed the Chevrolet Tahoe and a white, Audi sedan had collided, causing the Chevrolet Tahoe to roll over the top of the Audi sedan, where both vehicles came to rest on the west sidewalk of N. State Street. Both vehicles had extensive damage.
The two Ukiah females were located inside of the Audi sedan with moderate to severe injuries. Ukiah Valley Fire Authority (UVFA) was requested to respond, as well as an air ambulance. The driver of the Audi sedan was transported to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Emergency Room for treatment for her injuries. The passenger of the Audi sedan was airlifted to an out of County hospital after she had to be extricated from the vehicle. CHP assisted UPD and conducted the traffic collision portion of the investigation.
Norbury sustained minor injuries, consisting of small lacerations on his face, and he appeared to be heavily intoxicated. Norbury displayed objective symptoms of alcohol intoxication, to include red watery eyes, slurred speech, and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person. A search warrant was obtained for a blood toxicology on Norbury, which was executed at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Emergency Room. After being medically cleared for incarceration, Norbury was transported to the Mendocino County Jail to be booked for the above listed charges. Due to Norbury’s prior criminal history and the severity of the crimes he committed during the pursuit, the UPD Detective Bureau will be seeking a bail enhancement for the suspect and is actively investigating this incident.
The Ukiah Police Department would like to thank the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, and Adventist Health Ukiah Valley personnel for their assistance.
Previous Coverage
Fool. I know that you have at least one kid that you should be at home taking care of. I hope the two females recover.
?
Driving drunk with a suspended license attempts to evade police and nearly kills two people. That should get him a few years in prison! Asshole!
Do they even still teach about drunk driving in schools anymore? Or is that too close to home for the teachers and superintendents?
What a jerk. Putting innocent lives at risk for his stupid decisions, I pray the 2 victims are ok. Also why didn’t the police call off the chase knowing he was driving so reckless!