March 31--A Chicago man whose recent gunshot leg wounds hampered an attempt to run away from police was arrested last week by Riverside police, who said was he trying "to sell cannabis to anyone he encountered on the street."
Giovanni Castrejon, 23, of the 700 block of West 71st Street, was charged with drug offenses and fleeing police following the incident that began about 6:40 p.m. Friday, when a Riverside officer pulled him over on Ogden Avenue near Gage Road for not wearing a seat belt and an illegal lane change, police said.
Castrejon initially pulled his 2007 Audi SUV to the curb, police said, but then sped off when the officer got out of his squad car. Castrejon headed south, running two stop signs, before eventually running into two vehicles at 43rd Street in Lyons. The crash caused property damage but no injuries, police said.
Authorities say police arrived at the crash minutes later, and a witness directed them toward Castrejon, who had fled on foot but was slowed because one of his legs was in a cast. He was taken into custody by police at 44th and Amelia streets.
Police said that Castrejon's leg was in a cast because he has been shot several weeks earlier in a drug-related incident in Chicago.
A search of his vehicle yielded two pounds of marijuana, $19,000 and equipment for processing and selling drugs, police said.
As a precaution, police said, Castrejon was admitted overnight to a hospital and was charged the following day when he was released. He allegedly told police he fled because of the large amount of marijuana in his car and because he was on parole for a domestic battery and weapons conviction.
According to a news release from police, Castrejon was in Riverside "to sell cannabis to anyone he encountered on the street or outside homes." Police added that he is familiar with the area because he has relatives who live in Lyons.
Police say he is a reputed street gang member with more than 30 arrests on a variety of charges and has been arrested more than a dozen times for driving with a suspended or revoked license. He was ordered held without bond.
"My officer followed the vehicle at a safe distance as the vehicle fled in a reckless manner," Riverside police Chief Thomas Weitzel said. "The entire incident, from the traffic stop to where the vehicle crashed, lasted under two minutes. I am very thankful there were no injuries."
