Lengthy chase in stolen Chron van ends

Two suspects who allegedly stole a newspaper delivery van in San Francisco’s Bayview District this morning were eventually arrested in the East Bay after a lengthy pursuit, police said.

The pursuit started at 8:27 a.m. near Keith Street and Palou Avenue in San Francisco, where police tried to pull over the vehicle but its driver fled, San Francisco police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said.

The vehicle was a San Francisco Chronicle delivery van that had been stolen, Esparza said.

Police pursued the van down the Peninsula and the California Highway Patrol took over as the vehicle continued across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, Esparza said.

Officers from San Leandro spotted the van on San Leandro Boulevard near Washington Street, where the van pulled over and a passenger got out and was arrested, San Leandro police Lt. Jeff Tudor said.

However, the driver fled south on East 14th Street and police pursued him through downtown San Leandro and onto Estudillo Avenue, then onto Lake Chabot Road, Tudor said.

The driver went into a dead end at Chabot Terrace and fled into nearby yards, but was located and arrested shortly before 11 a.m. in a creek in Lake Chabot Regional Park, according to Tudor.

Alameda County sheriff’s deputies and officers from the CHP and the East Bay Regional Park District helped San Leandro officers set up a perimeter and catch the driver, Tudor said.

Tudor said he doesn’t know what charges the driver could face but said one is possibly attempting to assault an officer because he swerved the van toward a San Leandro officer during the pursuit.

The two suspects’ names were not immediately being released.

San Francisco police are the lead agency in the investigation, according to Tudor.