Car Chase Ends Without Injury

Highway Patrol Officers responded to a report of an erratic driver in a white 1989 Cadillac who was swerving between lanes and cutting off other vehicles on the US-101 southbound north of El Capitan State Beach on Thursday morning, August 13. When officers ordered him to pull over, 64-year-old driver James Kallas pulled to the freeway’s right shoulder as though he were going to stop, but quickly sped back onto southbound 101 proceeding to evade officers at 40-65 miles per hour speeds, according to a press release. Continuing south, Kallas occasionally made hand signals out the window indicating he would pull over. Finally, an officer released a spike strip on the southbound highway near Padaro Ln., which left Kallas with a flat tire and forced him to pull over less than a mile later. After neglecting officer’s orders, the subject pulled back into traffic before stopping in the middle of two active traffic lanes 100 yards south. Kallas was eventually taken into custody without any injuries and deemed to be suffering from mental illness; he was turned over to Santa Barbara County adult mental health services.