A Prunedale man was arrested Sunday after he reportedly broke into a home and then took off in a van.
Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 18000 block of Vierra Canyon Road in Prunedale around 1:30pm on a report of a suspicious person prowling the area.
Deputies then learned the suspect had broken into an occupied residence where the homeowner confronted the suspect, who was armed with a hammer. The home owner managed to wrestle the hammer away from the man, later identified as Daryl James Lipska, 32, said Scott Davis, acting commander.
Deputies, with assistance from the California Highway Patrol, saturated the area while receiving numerous reports of a white male with long hair jumping fences. Deputies then spotted Lipska driving away from the area in the van which turned out to be stolen from a nearby residence.
Lipska was next spotted circling the 76 gas station parking lot at 1040 El Camino Real North. Deputies tried to pull Lipska over but he failed to yield, leading deputies on a short vehicle pursuit. After the van got a flat tire it drove into a bush at the end of Reese Circle, where Lipska fled on foot. He was caught a short distance away.
Police said Lipska was booked at the Monterey County Jail on felony charges of burglary, vehicle theft, reckless evading, vandalism and a misdemeanor of resisting or obstructing.
