By Brian Anderson
San Ramon Valley Times

Sept. 25, 1999

DANVILLE — Some predawn detective work for two Danville police officers quickly shifted into a high-speed chase Friday that zigzagged through heavy traffic and two counties before stalling in a Bay Bridge commuter backup.

No one was injured in the 66-mile chase that ended with the arrest of two men near the bridge toll plaza, police said.

The situation began when police got a call about 5 a.m. from a man who said he saw two men in a pickup truck dump what he thought was furniture near Greenlawn Drive and Lawnview Circle, said Sgt. Dennis Bilotti.

About five minutes later at the site, officers Randy Ritter and Michael Carson discovered discarded construction equipment.

Knowing that several houses were being built nearby, Carson drove to Peters Ranch Road where he reported seeing the truck coming toward his car, Bilotti said.

Carson tried to block the road, but the brown 1988 Nissan loaded with tools and other construction equipment swerved around his car.

"The other officer, who hears (on the police radio) this going on, is waiting at the bottom of the hill," Bilotti said. "But the guy decides he doesn't want to stop."

Ritter followed the truck onto northbound Interstate 680, then west on Highway 24, where the truck zipped through traffic at 100 mph, passing on the shoulder and near the center divider.

At Acalanes Road in Lafayette, Ritter abandoned the chase to comply with a departmental pursuit policy, Bilotti said.

California Highway Patrol officers picked up the pursuit in Lafayette and followed the truck as it turned around at Fish Ranch Road, just before the Caldecott Tunnel, and then headed east on Highway 24, said CHP Sgt. Lee Timmons.

With the CHP in pursuit, the truck shot south on I-680 then east on I-580, exiting on Hopyard Road only to reappear on I-580 heading west toward Oakland, Timmons said.

Through morning commuters, the parade of flashing lights and sirens screamed toward the congested Bay Bridge toll plaza.

But the pickup had little room to maneuver in the heavy traffic, Timmons said, and both men were stopped and taken into custody.

Arrested were Damon Aram Casparian, 29, formerly of Danville; and Ryan Patrick McClelland, 25, of Alamo.

They were booked into the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of felony failing to yield, reckless driving and resisting arrest, Timmons said.

One of the men was slightly bruised on his face during a scuffle with officers, Timmons said. He was treated at a local hospital before being booked.