Wild high speed chase lands Los Osos woman in jail

October 18, 2014

By KAREN VELIE

A Los Osos woman who led Santa Barbara County Sheriff deputies on a high speed chase with speeds that reached over a 100-mph was arrested along with her two companions on Friday, officers said.

At about 2:45 p.m., witnesses reported a man wielding a knife pounding on the outside of  a black Jeep Cherokee with his fists at a gas station in Buellton. Deputies arrived and the man and two female suspects fled driving southbound on Highway 101 in the same Jeep that had been involved in another recent pursuit.

A short time later, Santa Barbara County air support and California Highway Patrol officers joined the chase.

During the pursuit, the suspect vehicle drove on the right and left hand shoulder dangerously passing other vehicles. In the La Colina Junior High School area, 24-year-old Camilla DePerna (aka: Jessica Walters) of Los Osos crossed double yellow lines while passing a school bus, officers said.

At approximately 3:10 p.m., the Jeep turned on a dead end street and then onto the private property of Willowbrook Ranch in Santa Barbara. At one point, DePerna exited the driver’s seat but then returned and continued driving on ranch roads trying to escape.

DePerna then rammed a sheriff patrol car that was blocking the exit to the ranch. She also crashed into a pepper tree and the main ranch gate causing the overhead sign to fall.

Continuing her attempt to flee, DePerna put the vehicle in reverse. However, a deputy backed his patrol car into the Jeep pinning it between a tree and the his car.

Initially, Shane Lydick, 34, of Thousand Oaks; Kristy DeLaCerna, 36, of Thousand Oaks and DePerna refused to exit the Jeep. However, officers broke several windows out of the vehicle and forcibly removed all three suspects. No one was injured in the pursuit or the crash.

Lydick and DePerna, who were both believed to be drivers at different points in the pursuit, were arrested for felony evading arrests with a vehicle. All three suspects were additionally booked for possession of burglary tools. DePerna also had a no bail felony warrant for burglary.

On Oct. 3, DePerna and DeLaCerna were involved in a vehicle pursuit that began near the Chumash Casino and ended at Highway 154 near Cathedral Oaks. At that time, DeLaCerna was arrested and charged with possession of narcotics. Though deputies conducted a lengthy search, they did not locate DePerna.

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