A Susanville man was arrested for DUI and resisting arrest by California Highway Patrol officers late Friday evening just south of the Honey Lake Rest area on Highway 395, after a collision which set his pickup on fire and briefly threatened vegetation alongside the roadway.
At around 8:20p.m., according to the CHP report, calls began coming into dispatch warning of a possibly impaired driver traveling northbound on 395. The vehicle was reportedly all over the roadway and driving into oncoming traffic, causing near-collisions.
“Additionally,” details Susanville CHP Public Information Officer Bruce Thuelchassaigne, “reports were that the vehicle, a pickup, was driving on a flat tire. As officers were responding, an additional report was that the pickup was involved in a collision and was now on fire.
A CHP officer located the vehicle on the shoulder of the highway with fire coming from the front end and he was able to extinguish the flames with his fire extinguisher.
The pickup also had a right rear wheel that had been ground down to the hub.
The driver, identified by the CHP as 31-year old Susanville resident Mathew Riley Kimbriel, was standing next to the pickup.
“Mr. Kimbriel was observed exhibiting the objective signs and symptoms of intoxication. The CHP officer performed a series of field sobriety questions and tests that Mr. Kimbriel failed, resulting in his arrest for the suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.”
According to Thuelchassaigne, Kimbriel became confrontational, resistive and began threatening officers after being placed under arrest. He was booked into the Lassen County Jail.
