FORT BRAGG, Ca. 7/8/24 — The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) arrested three men on Friday evening after a traffic stop for driving under the influence (DUI) turned into a car chase.
According to the Fort Bragg Police Department, officers were patrolling Pomo Bluffs Park around 10:16 p.m. on Friday. The driver of a vehicle at the park appeared to be driving under the influence. Rather than complying with officers, the driver, 21-year-old Nathan Hoaglin of Clearlake, fled the scene in the vehicle. Two passengers were in the vehicle with Hoaglin.
Police proceeded to pursue the vehicle, which headed south on California State Route 1 for approximately ten minutes. Officers chased Hoaglin into Mendocino, where he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into what police describe as a “stationary traffic device” on Jack Peters Creek Bridge. The vehicle then crashed into an oncoming vehicle. Hoaglin and his fellow passengers fled the scene on foot, jumping off the bridge and running into town.
The MCSO, which was assisting with the vehicle pursuit, searched for Hoaglin and his passengers in Mendocino. Eventually, they found Hoaglin in the 45000 block of Main Street and arrested him. The two passengers, 19-year-old Diego Ceja Sandoval of Ukiah, and a 16-year-old juvenile from Coyote Valley, were also located in Mendocino and arrested.
While searching the crashed vehicle, officers found a loaded unregistered handgun with a high capacity magazine.
Hoaglin was on post-release community supervision and also had a felony warrant out for his arrest related to an attempted homicide and for participation in a criminal street gang, both in Santa Rosa. Fort Bragg officers also charged Hoaglin with numerous felony charges: evading a peace officer, child endangerment, conspiracy to commit a felony, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle after prior conviction and a charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was also charged for one misdemeanor: leaving the scene of an accident.
Sandoval was charged with two felonies — carrying a loaded firearm in public and conspiracy to commit a felony — and one misdemeanor for resisting/obstructing/delaying arrest. The unnamed juvenile was also charged with the same felony and misdemeanor charges in addition to one additional misdemeanor for public intoxication.
According to the Fort Bragg Police Department, there were no injuries from the vehicle collision and the three suspects sustained minor injuries from jumping off the bridge while fleeing. All were medically cleared before being booked, Sandoval and Hoaglin at Mendocino County Jail and the juvenile at Mendocino County Juvenile Detention Center.
The Fort Bragg Police Department asks that anyone with additional information should contact Sgt. De Leon at (707) 961-2800 extension 214.