May 20--A man and two teenagers were arrested Friday after trying to light a body on fire in a trash bin in San Bernardino, then leading police on a wild chase through Southern California, authorities said.
An officer was patrolling the area near 6th Street and Sterling Avenue at 1:09 a.m. when he spotted three people lighting something on fire, said Lt. Rich Lawhead, spokesman for the San Bernardino Police Department.
The officer tried to stop the trio, but they fled in a pickup truck that was hauling a trailer.
A chase began that eventually covered more than 60 miles on the 10, 57, 710 and 105 freeways, police said. At some point during the pursuit in San Bernardino, the teens jumped out of the truck or were dropped off, authorities said.
California Highway Patrol units were finally able to stop the driver on Orizaba Avenue near Golden Avenue in Paramount, CHP Officer Tony Polizzi said.
The driver, later identified as Enrique Jimenez of Highland Park, was taken into custody. The teens were also arrested.
After the pursuit ended, San Bernardino police returned to the trash bin, where they made a gruesome discovery.
A body of a man in his 40s was found inside the bin in a vacant field, Lawhead said. Detectives believe the man was killed in Highland and later abandoned in the field, where he was soaked with an accelerant and lit on fire, he said.
Investigators obtained search warrants and collected evidence from the multiple crime scenes connected to the incident, Lawhead said.
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