Mother Recounts Moments of Watching Son Lead Police Pursuit

While viewers watched deputies chasing the high-speed driver of a pursuit on Pacific Coast Highway in California Wednesday afternoon, the man's mother was on the phone with 911, frantically asking officials not to hurt her son.

When Claudine Salas saw her 23-year-old son Jordan leading the chase, she picked up the phone and called, telling the dispatcher that her son is bipolar.

"I see the pursuit live," she said. "I cannot even explain the fear that he was going to lose his life or he will kill someone."

The chase began at 3:15 p.m. when authorities tried to pull over a Ford F-150 for a traffic violation in Lake Forest, said Lt. Mark Stichter, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Along the way, Salas drove erratically, sped along Pacific Coast Highway, went over a center divider and into oncoming traffic, and slipped alongside traffic on the shoulder of a narrow road. At one point he was seen on his cellphone. He drove on several freeways and streets in south Orange County.

"All I could tell them (was) 'He's not dangerous. Don't hurt him. And please, begging you don't hurt him,'" Claudine Salas said.

Deputies tried to stop the truck using a spike strip in Laguna Beach but failed to end the chase there.

It ended more than 20 miles away at Beach Boulevard and Indianapolis Avenue in Huntington Beach when deputies spun out the truck and pulled the driver out.

Claudine Salas said it was not the first time she has contacted police because of her son's behavior. She went to Lake Forest authorities last week when he began acting strange and paranoid.

"Because I was afraid for him. He was unstable. There was something mentally that was not OK. There was nothing you could do."

She said police went to check on her son then, but nothing came of it. She said she is grateful no one was hurt during the pursuit and hopes it is a blessing in disguise, and that she will be able to get help for her son.

"I love him with all my heart. I do hope that this will be a turning point that he will get the help he needed."

Jordan Salas is facing two felony counts of evading police and reckless driving.

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