"Pull over" interpreted as "speed up"

“I’ve arrested him in past,” Escondido police officer John Grohn said in court on January 8. “As soon as I saw him, I knew who it was.”

Officer Grohn testified at a hearing for Juan Mozo Roldan, 29, who was on probation for possession of meth and resisting arrest when he had another run-in with police three weeks ago, the night of December 18.

It was after 10 p.m. when a policeman noticed the broken windshield on a gold Ford Explorer and put lights on the vehicle and sounded the siren near the intersection of Cedar and Fifth streets.

Instead of pulling over, “the driver was speeding up,” police said. Officers pursued the Ford through residential streets and the pursuit went up to 50 mph, according to officers’ estimates. The offending vehicle blew through at least three stop signs and “he was pulling away,” according to testimony of officer Juan Alva.

After the fugitive vehicle turned onto Grape Street, it slowed and the driver’s side door opened and a man bailed out on foot, according to police. The car continued moving and ran into a motorcycle parked at the curb there, officers said.

After a foot-chase, at least two officers scuffled with the suspect in the backyard of a nearby home, according to testimony. At one point, the man broke free and ran to kick at the back door of the residence, according to Officer Grohn.

Grohn said he used his baton at least twice on the man after the suspect “took a fighting stance” and then both men went to the ground. The cop said he weighs more than 250 pounds when wearing all his tactical gear, and the suspect weighed 160 pounds.

Officer Grohn said his knee got twisted during the conflict and after that evening he was put on “light duty assignment” for four days.

On January 8, public defender Sloan Ostbye suggested that the resisting-arrest charge should be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Judge Richard S. Whitney ordered Roldan to trial for two felonies — resisting arrest and evading officers with wanton disregard for public safety.

The defendant pleads not guilty to all charges, is being held without bail, and is next expected in San Diego’s North County Courthouse February 3.