Highway standoff ends without casualties

Bay Area chase exceeded 100 mph

Members of a SWAT team incapacitate the driver of an Oldsmobiile by spraying foam into the car.

PALO ALTO, California (CNN) -- A high-speed chase followed by a four-hour standoff on one of the Bay Area's main highways ended without casualties Friday when members of a SWAT team broke the car's windows and incapacitated the driver by spraying him with foam.

The standoff had led authorities to shut southbound lanes of California's Highway 101 in Palo Alto for nearly six miles.

The mid-1990s maroon Oldsmobile sedan stopped in the middle of the freeway after its tires were punctured, and police said it appeared that the driver poured gasoline from a can inside the car and ripped out the back seats.

The chase began at 4:40 a.m. PDT (7:40 a.m. EDT), when a California Highway Patrol car pulled behind the disabled sedan, which was parked on the shoulder of a freeway in Livermore, said Richard Franklin, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO A high-speed chase followed by a four-hour standoff on one of the Bay Area's main highways ended without casualties (July 5) Play video

When the patrol officer approached what he thought was a disabled vehicle, the driver sped off and a chase ensued, with speeds exceeding 100 mph, Franklin said.

The path of the pursuit went from Livermore to Castro Valley and Oakland across the Bay Bridge.

The car came to a halt on 101 South near University about 5:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. EDT) after police used a spike strip to puncture its tires.

The occupant of the car did not respond to numerous attempts to contact him.