The Antelope Valley Times

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2 arrested after AV car chase

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A PIT maneuver brought the Scion to a stop just after 5 p.m. near the Palmdale Walmart in the 40100 block of 10th Street West, and then Tony Soundara surrendered, authorities said. (Photo by LUIS MEZA)
A PIT maneuver brought the Scion to a stop just after 5 p.m. near the Palmdale Walmart in the 40100 block of 10th Street West, and then Tony Soundara surrendered, authorities said. (Photo by LUIS MEZA)

PALMDALE – A man suspected of driving recklessly while under the influence of drugs and thought to be armed led deputies on a chase from Lancaster into Palmdale Thursday afternoon before being stopped by a PIT maneuver.

Tony Soundara, 30, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, evading police and outstanding warrants, officials said. [LUIS MEZA]
Tony Soundara, 30, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, evading police and outstanding warrants, officials said. [LUIS MEZA]
Tony Soundara, 30, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, evading police and outstanding warrants, said Lt. Slade Carrizosa of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station. Soundara’s passenger, 26-year-old Talisha Mitchell, was also taken into custody, Carrizosa said.

Deputies in Lancaster began chasing Soundara’s gray Scion about 4:15 p.m. after Soundara refused to submit to a DUI-related traffic stop on Avenue I near Fern Avenue, Carrizosa said.

“The pursuit was canceled in Lancaster at Sierra Highway and Avenue M,” Carrizosa added.

Counterparts from the sheriff’s Palmdale Station took over the chase as it crossed Avenue M, said Lt. Frank Quichocho, watch commander of the Palmdale Station.

A passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Talisha Mitchell, was also taken into custody, officials said. (LUIS MEZA)
A passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Talisha Mitchell, was also taken into custody, officials said. (LUIS MEZA)

Deputies and a sheriff’s air unit were told to monitor the Scion in surveillance mode, but as the vehicle got into more populated areas, Quichocho said he requested the CHP execute a PIT maneuver.

“[CHP] took over the pursuit at Avenue O and 10th Street West,” said CHP Officer Joshua Wupperfeld. “We followed the vehicle southbound on 10th Street West at pretty low speeds. It was approximately 10 mph to 30 mph.”

Wupperfeld said they decided to execute a PIT maneuver once the vehicle entered the Walmart parking lot.

Before the Scion was stopped, several of its tires had been deflated by spike strips. [LUIS MEZA]
Before the Scion was stopped, several of its tires had been deflated by spike strips. [LUIS MEZA]
“We couldn’t execute the PIT maneuver on 10th because there was too much traffic,” Wupperfeld said.

The Scion was brought to a stop just after 5 p.m. near the Walmart in the 40100 block of 10th Street West.

Soundara surrendered, and he and Mitchell were immediately taken into custody. It was unclear if any weapons were recovered.

Before the Scion was stopped, several of its tires had been deflated by spike strips, but Soundara kept driving, although at slow rates of speed.

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[City News Service contributed to this report.]

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

23 comments for "2 arrested after AV car chase"

  2. I was born in 1963 at AVHMC, and lived there until I was 21, or so; I returned to live there until my old age, but I’m Thankful to get out again when I did! Growing up in the AV felt comfortable and safe. Then the prison was built on the west side, and it started to change for the worst.
    I occasionally read one of the many stories about what has become of my hometown, and it almost brings me to tears!
    I seriously hope this isn’t the way our country is heading, because it’s getting tougher and tougher to say “I’m from the Antelope Valley?

  3. Thank God for our law enforcement that helps to keep us area safe! This could have been a tragedy with innocent people hit by this DUI driver.

  4. Has this valley ever been a place to be proud of……?
    I moved here in 2009 and I regret it daily…..

    Has Lancaster ever been a place where people are PROUD to come from…..

    I live in Quartz Hill and even that’s becoming a little rough……

    • This was a nice little bedroom community for decades. “Affordable Housing” programs and Section 8 were bait for all of the riffraff. People who have been here long enough know this, and resent the hell out of it.

      • Rex Parris said he welcomed Section 8 renters to fill the vacant houses several years ago on a local tv channel.

        Wonder if there is a list of property owners who accept Section 8 vouchers and see if any of the city leaders own such houses.

        Tax payers are sending the rent checks to the landlords so we should be able to know who they are.

    • I have lived here since 1978. It used to be a great place to live. At that time it was a small town. Since the housing bust they have turned it into a section 8 haven. All of the low income criminals from Los Angeles are here now. It is sad to see.

    • I moved here as a wee lad in 1956. Back then we could leave our front doors unlocked and one time I even got paddled by my friend Greg’s Mom when we did something out of sorts. His Mom then took me to my Mom and the treatment was repeated.
      Not so much any more. Pride is gone. Section 8 is prevalent as is the handout society. (I don’t call them entitlement crowd because they aren’t entitled to anything because they haven’t earned anything).
      Anyhow, times have changed. Can’t wait to move out of here.

    • Serious Question – My family and I moved here in 1992. At that time it was a beautiful place to live….we could stay out late walking our dogs,letting the kids play after dark in our cul-de-sacs, riding bicycles to the park and watching the baseball games. People in the stores and the bank knew your name and addressed you by your name. There weren’t as many homes then as there is now and we NEVER saw any homeless people. Quite different from where we lived in Pacoima. My daughter was often envied by her classmates because she came from “down below” and had been to Hollywood. (most of the kids from school had never been “down below” and asked her to discribe the things she saw daily!) We moved here to “get away” from the gangs and thugs of the La Basin and communities. Now, 22 years later what we moved up here to “get away” from is now HERE. How tragic and utterly sad, but we can’t move again so we must make the best of the situation. The Av is still a beautiful valley and there are really great people here so I guess it’s how you look at it. I choose to continue to be positive and make the most of it.

    • Then move.I mean really I happen to be DAM PROUD to live here in the Antelope Valley. I personally was not raised here I have no “biological” family out here…(excluding my 5 year old daughter). EVERY CITY EVERY TOWN BIG OR SMALL HAS ITS PROBLEMS! But it also has a lot of stuff to be proud of…have you watched a desert sunset or a sunrise…or the poppy field when they are in full bloom?! Or how about for you natire lovers and weekend rock and mineral lovers theres gem mountain…BEAUTY IS ALL IN HOW YOU SEE THINGS.DONT LIKE IT SHUT YOUR EYES!

      • BEAUTY IS ALL IN HOW YOU SEE THINGS.DONT LIKE IT SHUT YOUR EYES!

        Don’t have to shut our eyes – The savages will do that for you when they bound you up with duck tape before robbing you in your own home – But I admire your fairy tale optimism – Nothing solves problems like shutting your eyes to said problems . . . Wink Wink …

        • It is not fairytale optimism. Many of us who live up here love it. I have lived here since the 80s and still love it. Has it changed? Definitely; some good, some bad.

          Just complaining about the problem does nothing to solve it. You are part of the thread of this community, and you can choose to be a positive part or a negative part. I choose to invest in this community and love it. We only have one life to live, and I want to live it seeing the good. I am aware of the bad, but the bad will always be there no matter where you live. Choose to be part of the solution, not the problem.

          God Bless!

      • Move?? What kind of statement is that?? Maybe for someone living on the system its easy for you, but for Aerospace employees that have had to watch the systematic decay of our once respectful and law abiding public, its not so easy Missy! Thanks Frank Roberts for bringing
        in the prison, and their scummy families.

        • The AV is [removed] up because the system forces them to be here. You’re stuck with the lower class too, so don’t be pointing fingers.

  6. Why do they run? Especially after losing the tires to a spike strip. You will and do always get caught. Why can’t they make it easier on everyone and just pull over. Less charges filed that way too. I actually wonder what the percentage is of people who run and get away and the ones who don’t get away.

  7. Thanks for the public safety measures and great co-operation among law enforcement departments…..

    • I agree. I feel sl bad for them. I wouldn’t want to be a cop out here. It isn’t worth the money. High five to them for keeping us as safe as they can.