1 arrested after vehicle chase in Atwater

A brief pursuit with a suspected drunken driver ended over the weekend in Atwater when the motorist crashed his vehicle into a trash bin on Swaps Street, the Police Department reported.

Andres Barajas Diaz, 37, was booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of evading police, a felony, and drunken driving, a misdemeanor, according to Atwater police.

Officers tried to stop a vehicle on unspecified traffic violations about 10 p.m. Saturday in the 1500 block of East Bellevue Road. The driver, later identified by investigators as Diaz, refused to pull over and officers pursued him for a brief period over less than one mile, police said.

The chase ended when the driver crashed into a trash bin in a residential neighborhood in the 1100 block of Swaps, police said. No injuries were reported.

Diaz was released from custody a few hours later, according to Merced County Jail booking records. A court date was not available.

This story was originally published December 22, 2014 at 3:04 PM with the headline "1 arrested after vehicle chase in Atwater."