By Aaron Burgin, The Porterville Recorder
VISALIA - A high-speed police pursuit of a wanted parolee on a motorcycle Feb. 2 should never have happened, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Neither, they said, should the scuffle between the suspect, Gordon Chavez, 48, and police that followed the chase, in which a Porterville detective broke his hand.

“He [Chavez] should have been in prison,” Assistant District Attorney Carol Turner said. Released from custody May 31, 2006, by a Superior Court judge, Chavez was supposed to return in a week to begin serving his seven-year, four-month prison sentence. He didn't return, Turner said. “He was told to come back, and he didn't,” said Michelle Wallis, the deputy district attorney prosecuting Chavez.

It was not the first time Chavez had committed a criminal act while released from custody awaiting charges, according to court documents. Chavez was arrested on two different occasions while out of jail on bail during a six-month span from August 2005 to February 2006.

Lindsay police arrested Chavez Sept. 9, 2005, on charges that he took a vehicle without the owner's consent, was in possession of narcotics and sold them. This occurred one month after Chavez posted a $20,000 bond Aug. 8, 2005 on a May 2005 arrest.

Chavez again posted a $20,000 bond on Oct. 17, 2005, and he was again arrested Feb. 6, 2006 on similar charges, this time by Tulare County Sheriff's Department deputies. Chavez remained in jail until May 31, 2006 when, as part of plea agreement with prosecutors, Tulare County Superior Court Judge James Hollman released him and ordered him to return a week later - June 7 - to begin serving his prison term. Hollman told Chavez if he didn't return his sentence would be extended by three years. That was the last law enforcement saw of Chavez for eight months, Wallis said.

Speaking on behalf of Hollman, Judge Joseph Kalashian, the court spokesman, would not comment as to why, considering Chavez's past behavior, Hollman released the man. Legal expert Carl Faller, a former U.S. prosecutor, said the judge may have had a reason for the release. “Judge Hollman is a really straight-and-narrow guy on things like this,” Faller said. “It would appear that he had some type of information that made him believe that the man would be reliable.”

Months passed until Feb. 2, when Porterville police, conducting surveillance on a home in the 1200 block of San Lucia Avenue, found Chavez leaving the residence on a motorcycle.

After failing to yield to police who tried to pull him over, Chavez led officers on a pursuit, traveling at speeds over 100 mph, Turner said. According to previous reports, Chavez lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into an olive orchard near the area of Road 232 and Avenue 182. Chavez allegedly resisted arrest, breaking the hand of the Detective Mike Benas. Officers eventually subdued Chavez.

On Tuesday, Chavez appeared before Hollman, who set March 5 as the date for his preliminary hearing. Now, Turner said, Chavez faces a much longer prison stint because of the added charges, which could potentially be his second strike.

Chavez served three years in state prison for an assault with a deadly weapon charge in 2000, a strike offense. A year earlier, he served a half-year in county jail for possessing a controlled substance for sale and buying or receiving stolen property.

“If and when he is convicted, his sentence will change,” Turner said. “And he will remain in custody.”

Contact Aaron Burgin at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or aburgin@portervillerecorder.com.

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Feb. 21, 2007