High-Speed Chase Leads to Arrest of 2, Recovery of Stolen Police and Fire Equipment

By Bay City News—

A man and woman were arrested following a high-speed chase late Tuesday night that forced police to put a south Fremont neighborhood on lockdown, authorities said. Fremont police said the incident began at about 10:30 p.m.

Tuesday when officers who were following up leads in a residential burglary case recognized a passenger in a vehicle as a person of interest. Officers tried to stop the car on southbound Interstate Highway 880 near the Warren Avenue exit, but the driver failed to yield and fled at speeds of more than 100 mph, police said.
 
The car then headed onto city streets in Fremont, disobeying red lights, and eventually turned onto Gable Drive, where it came to a stop and both the driver and passenger fled on foot in the area of Mardis Street, according to police.
 
The passenger, Janel Cordova, 33, of Santa Clara, was immediately taken into custody by the pursuing officers as she tried to hide on a porch but the driver continued to run and was last seen fleeing over a fence, police said.
 
Fremont then issued a community code red alert to the neighborhood and asked that residents lock their doors, windows and shelter in place. Officers then conducted a search of yards in the area using police dogs. During the search, they learned that the suspects' vehicle was a stolen Hertz rental vehicle, police said.

When officers searched the vehicle, multiple items belonging to an off-duty police officer and an off-duty firefighter, from neighboring agencies, were found, police said. Among the items were a loaded handgun, holster and badge that had been stolen earlier in the day from the officer's personal vehicle when it was parked in the area of Mowry Ave. and Blacow Rd. in Fremont, according to police.
 
The firefighter's work-related belongings were stolen from his vehicle when it was burglarized in the Pleasanton area, police said.

At about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, an hour and twenty minutes into the search, a resident on Fortner Street reported that a man was hiding in his yard, police said. Fremont police dog Timo found the suspect, and struggled with him until he surrendered, police said.
 
The suspect, 25-year-old Maxwell Ames of Fremont, was arrested and taken to a local hospital to be treated for dog bites, police said. After Ames was released from the hospital, he was booked at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on charges of auto burglary, felony evading, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of stolen property, possession of a stolen vehicle and resisting arrest, police said. Cordova was booked on charges of resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia and a probation violation, according to police.
 
The residential burglary case that led to the high-speed chase remains under investigation, police said. 

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