Sheriff asks for help identifying chase suspect who ditched guns, drug lab chemicals

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying a man they said escaped capture following a March 12 vehicle pursuit in rural San Luis Obispo.

Shortly after midnight that morning, deputies attempted a vehicle code violation stop on a black 1996 Dodge Dakota pickup near Highway 101 and Madonna Road.

The truck led deputies on a short pursuit before it drove over a curb in the 3600 block of South Higuera Street and down an embankment of San Luis Obispo Creek. The driver fled into the creek area and has not been located.

Inside the cab of the truck, deputies found a loaded .45-caliber handgun, a wig, two-way radios and a bulletproof vest, as well as a scoped Springfield rifle, chemistry equipment and chemicals associated with a hallucinogenic drug production lab in the bed of the truck, according to a department news release.

DNA and fingerprints are being processed by the California Department of Justice, but the Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about the suspect to call detectives at 781-4550, or Crime Stoppers at 549-STOP.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Sheriff asks for help identifying chase suspect who ditched guns, drug lab chemicals."