Man arrested in Joshua Tree after chase through two counties

A 20-year-old man was arrested near Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday afternoon after an 11-hour manhunt. The search allegedly began when he got out of his vehicle after a police chase, fired a gun and fled the scene.

No police officers were injured, according to a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which assisted Riverside County Sheriff's Department personnel.

Jonathan Rodriguez was arrested without incident, the statement said, at around 2:22 p.m. on Saturday in a house on Pueblo Trail in the small community of Joshua Tree next to the national park.

As of early Saturday evening, he had not yet been booked into the city's Morongo Basin Jail, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez said by email, adding that no information was available about the suspect's vehicle or the weapon he allegedly fired.

The arrest ended a manhunt that began when Riverside County Sheriff's Department officers attempted to stop a vehicle near Camino Idilio and Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs for “violating traffic laws,” the department said in a statement.

Rodriguez reportedly did not stop, so officers pursued him west on I-10 from Date Palm to Highway 62 and then to Yucca Trail and Airway Avenue, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department statement said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies took over the pursuit and the pursuit ended in the 60800 block of Mountain View Trail, a scenic stretch of road just off the northwest border of Joshua Tree National Park. Rodriguez allegedly exited his vehicle, “fired several shots from a firearm” and then fled, the San Bernardino County statement said.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. Authorities asked anyone with relevant information to call the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office dispatch center at (909) 387-8313 or submit information anonymously at (800) 782-7463 or www.wetip.com.