Man arrested during high-speed motorcycle chase on Hwy. 41 is wanted fugitive, CHP says

A high-speed motorcycle chase on Highway 41 across San Luis Obispo County led to the arrest of a wanted fugitive from Southern California, according to the California Highway Patrol.

At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, CHP officers saw a motorcyclist speeding on Highway 41 and attempted to stop him, according to CHP Officer Mike Poelking. The motorcyclist sped off onto northbound Highway 41 toward Atascadero as officers pursued him.

The motorcyclist then pulled onto the right-hand shoulder of the road and began going the opposite direction, onto Highway 41 toward Morro Bay, Poelking said in an email to The Tribune.

“The motorcyclist attempted to evade by accelerating the motorcycle to speeds in excess of 100 mph,” Poelking wrote in the email.

The pursuit ultimately ended in Morro Bay, when the motorcyclist, identified by the CHP as 58-year-old William Larence Machado Jr., surrendered.

Machado, of Northridge, was arrested on suspicion of felony evading and driving with a suspended driver’s license, according to CHP. As of Wednesday morning, he is being held at the San Luis Obispo County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to jail records.

Later on Tuesday evening, the supervisor of the California Department of Corrections Fugitive Recovery Team contacted CHP to alert them that Machado Jr. was a fugitive wanted on suspicion of felony stalking.