A wanted Modesto man was arrested late Feb. 17 after trying to flee a Colusa police officer in downtown Colusa, which ended when the driver crashed into a power pole, knocking out power to some PG&E customers for more than 12 hours.
According to Lt. Sara Martin, a Colusa Police unit had initiated a traffic stop around 9:40 PM on a white BMW van that was driving against traffic on Market Street with its high beams on.
The driver, later determined to be 57-year-old Kevin Lewis Morgan, pulled into Jackpot and stopped near the gas tanks.
Martin said Morgan gave the police officer a fake name, while his passenger, Jodi Lynn Northcutt, provided her actual identification.
As the police officer was checking records with dispatch, Morgan reportedly sped away and drove at a high rate of speed through the alley north of Market Street, south of Main Street.
Martin said the officer, in quick pursuit, noted that he could see the BMW become airborne and sparks coming from the rear of the vehicle as it would make traction with the ground.
After a brief pursuit, the vehicle crashed in the area of 3rd Street and Main, causing a power outage.
After the crash, Morgan attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended a short distance away from the scene of the collision.
Colusa PD discovered that Morgan had an outstanding arrest warrant for burglary out of Mariposa County with a bail of $650,000, Martin said.
Northcutt, who had unsuccessfully attempted to keep Morgan from fleeing, was cooperative with law enforcement, Martin said.
Morgan was arrested and booked into the Colusa County Jail on suspicion of failing to dim lights, false impersonation of another, evading an officer with wanton disregard to the safety of the public, false imprisonment, resisting an officer, driving on a suspended license, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of a meth pipe.
He was also booked for the outstanding arrest warrant, Martin said.
Morgan and Northcutt have a lengthy criminal history, according to court records. The couple were previously arrested in 2018 in connection to a daytime home invasion robbery in Turlock in November of 2017, which forced a 13-year-old girl to hide in the closet while her house was being ransacked, according to news reports by the Turlock Journal.
According to the report, the girl was on the phone with 911 when she was confronted in the closet, grabbed by the wrist, and eventually pushed to the ground by the burglar, which the police later identified from home surveillance as Morgan, who was 52 at the time.
The screaming girl remained on the phone with 911 as Morgan ran from the house and into a waiting vehicle, the Journal reported.
The couple were arrested in Orange County four months later, police reported. â–