Thick mud ends police chase Thick mud ends police chase (September 24, 2004)

A chase for a stolen vehicle that started in Mountain View ended in three-foot mud in the San Francisquito Creek.

Mountain View police officer Tony Vierya was on routine patrol at 10:02 p.m. near Villa and Mariposa Streets when he decided to look up a license plate on a moving vehicle in the area.

He was told the vehicle, a green 1996 two-door Chevrolet Cavalier, had been stolen in Palo Alto.

As Vierya followed the vehicle, the driver, who was later identified as 22-year-old Mountain View resident James Bolton, sped off. In pursuit, Bolton headed northbound on Highway 101 with speeds reaching up to 80 mph. Bolton exited at Embarcadero in East Palo Alto and departed the vehicle at Laura Lane.

Bolton then ran to San Francisquito Creek where he trudged through the three-foot mud. The pursuit halted when Bolton fell in the mud and yelled for help.

Vierya approached Bolton and assisted him until Palo Alto police and officials came and rescued the two out of the creek.

Bolton was arrested and jailed for evading arrest, possession of stolen property, auto theft and resisting arrest.

Bolton's was the third stolen vehicle recovered by Vierya in three days.

-- Huong C. Pham

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