Man Leads Police on Chase After Patrol Car Is Rammed

VENTURA —  A distraught Ventura resident was arrested Monday night after his truck allegedly rammed a police cruiser and he drove the wrong way on the southbound side of the Ventura Freeway while fleeing authorities.

Ventura police were called to a home on the 8900 block of Santa Margarita Road around 7:05 p.m., where 55-year-old Robert Underwood had locked himself inside his garage with his truck’s engine running.

When police and city firefighters arrived, Underwood drove out of the garage and rammed head-on into the patrol car of Officer Robin Dawson, authorities said. Underwood then placed his truck in reverse and narrowly missed running over a second policeman, Jack Richards.

Underwood fled and was spotted minutes later driving south on Johnson Drive when a third officer, Douglas Driver, began chasing him at Bristol Road.

During the pursuit, Underwood allegedly swerved his truck into Driver’s path in an attempt to run the officer off the road.

Reaching the Ventura Freeway, Underwood drove down the southbound exit ramp at Johnson Drive, heading north. Driver broke off the chase, while additional police were dispatched to the Victoria Avenue onramp in an effort to intercept Underwood and prevent a collision.

Underwood drove the wrong way on the freeway for some 200 yards before the truck ran off the road and down an embankment, where it stopped.

After Underwood locked himself in his truck and refused to come out, Driver broke the truck window with a flashlight and pulled him out.

Underwood was taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center for observation.

Authorities said he will be arrested on three counts of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer and booked into the county jail.