Parolee jailed after Yuba City dirt bike chase
A Sutter parolee with a history of vehicle chases was jailed on Monday after he tried again — and failed, again — to outrun Sutter County sheriff's deputies, this time on a dirt bike motorcycle, authorities said.
Brandon Christopher Neel ran a stop sign in front of a sheriff's deputy at 4:51 a.m. on Gray Avenue and refused to pull over.
"He wasn't stopping, he ran a few stop signs and a traffic light," Sgt. Merle Weber said.
The chase lasted just more than five minutes and covered more than three miles, Weber said.
Deputies said Neel ran another stop sign on Clark Avenue, turned onto Jewell Avenue and ran another stop sign at Park Avenue.
He blew through two more stop signs on Plumas Street and eventually dumped his bike in the area of Garden Highway and Second Street, Weber said.
With help from the Yuba City Police Department, deputies captured Neel trying to climb over a fence at the Garden Grove apartment complex, authorities said.
Neel, 28, suffered minor leg scrapes, but no injuries were reported.
He was booked into the Sutter County Jail without bail on numerous charges including evading police with disregard for public safety, resisting peace officers and violating his parole.
His official criminal history was not available Tuesday.
However, according to Appeal-Democrat archives, Neel has a history of trying to evade Sutter County sheriff's deputies about every two years since 2008.
Neel was arrested in October of 2008 after crashing a motorcycle during a chase with sheriff's deputies that ended in an orchard northwest of Butte House Road.
He was jailed again in 2010 after crashing into a patrol car during a chase that also started when deputies spotted him running stop signs, this time in a red Mazda RX-7.
All three chases ended after short foot pursuits.
Neel was also arrested in 2005 in Yuba City for resisting a peace officer and again in 2006 in Marysville for drunken driving, according to Appeal-Democrat records.
Dispositions on those cases were not available on Tuesday.
CONTACT Rob Parsons at rparsons@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4785. Find him on Facebook at /ADcrimebeat or on Twitter at @ADcrimebeat.
