Alert Deputy Holds Suspect in Auto Theft

IRVINE — Off-duty Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy David Ginther had just left the South Coast Gun Club early Tuesday when he spotted a vehicle that seemed familiar.

Sure enough, it was the 1989 Chevrolet Suburban on which he had taken a stolen vehicle report the previous evening in Coto de Caza, authorities said Wednesday.

Ginther followed the vehicle about three or four miles to a Price Club parking lot in Irvine, where he was able to apprehend the driver after a chase on foot, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson.

Jason Todd Palmese, 20, of Mission Viejo, was arrested on suspicion of stealing the vehicle, according to authorities.

He was held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana on $10,000 bail pending arraignment today in Municipal Court in Newport Beach.

Olson said the suspect had pulled into the Price Club parking lot about 11:15 a.m. when he apparently became suspicious about being followed. At the time, a small pickup truck apparently was also following the Suburban, Olson said.

Ginther had just started to approach the suspect in the parking lot when the man ran, Olson said.

The chase continued until the suspect fell to the ground in exhaustion, Olson said.