Driver Arrested After Chase in Saugus

A suspected drunken driver was arrested after he tried to ram his jeep into a sheriff’s patrol car, smashed into the wall of an unoccupied house and drove over several front lawns in a Saugus neighborhood, authorities said Sunday.

Kirk Smith, 24, of Valencia was in custody at the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station on suspicion of felonious assault, vandalism and drunken driving in lieu of $30,000 bail, Sgt. Maria Bitman said.

The incident began early Sunday when residents told authorities that someone was driving across lawns in the 22300 block of Pamplico Street, where most of the houses are newly constructed and many sit unoccupied. The driver also crashed his vehicle through the wall of a vacant house at 22417 W. Bea Court, Bitman said.

When a patrol car arrived, the driver tried unsuccessfully to ram the deputies from behind, Bitman said. The driver then drove off at 85 m.p.h. through nearby residential streets, Bitman said.

The four-minute chase ended at Seco Canyon Drive and Bouquet Canyon Road when the jeep crashed into another car, then jumped a curb and slammed into a brick wall.

Smith was not injured, Bitman said. The driver of the car that was hit, Jan Ramshaw, 32, of Saugus, was treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for minor injuries and released.

No deputies were injured, Bitman said.