Nampa Man Arrested After Police Chase in Twin Falls County

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) – A Nampa man was arrested after leading law officers on a chase on Monday through parts of Twin Falls County.

Twin Falls County deputies arrested the man, 19-year-old Dominic Xavier Bernal, after he surrendered to authorities when the vehicle he was driving got stuck in a field.

According to the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy attempted to stop a speeding vehicle at 10:23 pm Monday. The driver of the dark-colored sedan, later found to be Bernal, was traveling erratically and crossing the center line westbound on 3700 North near Balanced Rock Park.

The deputy paced the vehicle at 55 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone, according to the sheriff’s office. When the deputy turned on his overhead lights to stop the driver, the sedan slowed but then accelerated.

The pursuit went southbound onto CrowsNest Road, according to the sheriff's office, where at one point the driver turned his vehicle around and drove directly toward a deputy’s car, forcing him into a ditch. The chase continued, this time northbound where the sedan crashed through a fence and into a field and became stuck on lava rock.

When law officers approached they didn’t see anyone in the sedan. Soon a man, whom deputies learned was Bernal, came forward with his hands up.

Bernal was arrested on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and eluding a police officer, both felonies, as well as an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for petit theft. The vehicle, law officers found out, was a Nissan Sentra that was registered to a rental company.