Driver Identified In Police Pursuit That Turned Deadly Tuesday

ANTIOCH (CBS SF) -- A 22-year-old man was identified Wednesday by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office as the suspect arrested after a police pursuit that turned deadly in Antioch on Tuesday morning.

Javonte Mathis, of Concord, was allegedly the driver who sped away from Oakley police and was pursued into Antioch, where he was involved in a crash that killed a passenger in his car, sheriff's officials said.

An Oakley police officer tried to pull over the white Toyota driven by Mathis for allegedly running a stop sign in the area of Main Street and Bridgehead Road at 8:27 a.m., but he sped away, according to the sheriff's office.

The officer chased the car for about a half-mile into Antioch and down East 18th Street.

The officer was a few hundred yards behind the Toyota when it crashed into a power pole and a fire hydrant and burst into flames between Wilson Street and Phillips Lane, sheriff's officials said.

Mathis then allegedly left the burning car and fled on foot. When the fire was later extinguished, officers discovered a dead passenger inside the vehicle. The county coroner's office is working to identify that person, sheriff's officials said.

Officers also found a loaded semiautomatic pistol, determined to be stolen, near the burned vehicle, sheriff's officials said.

The search for Mathis ended shortly after he was spotted getting into a different vehicle nearby. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries he apparently suffered in the crash.

He has since been arrested on counts of murder and evasion causing death to a person and was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on $1.1 million bail.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office had not yet filed charges against Mathis as of Wednesday afternoon.

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