Man arrested after standoff near Geyserville, vehicle pursuit on Highway 101

A man who barricaded himself inside a car Thursday evening near Geyserville after a prolonged high-speed pursuit on Highway 101 turned himself in after an hourslong standoff with authorities.

Dean Beaman, 61, of Hawthorn, had led authorities on a chase along the highway and Cloverdale streets before pulling into a private driveway off Dutcher Creek Road, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said. Beaman refused to exit the car or speak to authorities, but after two hours, he stepped out, unarmed, Sloat said.

“He ended up coming out by himself,” Sloat said.

He said Beaman was taken to the hospital for evaluation after he was pepper sprayed in an attempt to get him out of the car. Law enforcement officials also broke his car windows in order to talk to the man during the ordeal.

He was “screaming and pounding inside the car,” Sloat said. Motorists were urged to stay away from the area, just north of Dry Creek Road near a cluster of wineries. “He was hostile the entire time,” Sloat said.

Beaman faces charges on reckless evasion and resisting arrest. Sloat said he also had a warrant out from Los Angeles.

Four CHP officers and three deputies from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident. Hostage negotiators and a K-9 unit also were called in.

No weapons were found in his car, Sloat said, but officers still were combing through the vehicle as of 7 p.m.

The chase began around 3 p.m. when an officer tried to pull him over in Marin County for reckless driving, Sloat said. It was the start of rush hour on Highway 101, so officers suspended the chase as the car approached Petaluma.

“There was a lot of traffic where the initial pursuit was happening. That’s why it was canceled,” Sloat said.

A CHP officer then spotted the man’s green Kia on the highway near the Bicentennial Way ramp in Santa Rosa and alerted their aerial unit, Sloat said. Authorities later attempted to stop him as he exited the highway into Cloverdale, where he led them on another pursuit through city streets.

Longtime Cloverdale resident Vicente Duarte said he was taking his garbage can out to the curb of his driveway when he saw the Kia drive down his street.

“I made eye contact with the guy as he was turning from Clark Avenue to Brookside Drive,” said Duarte, 39.

He said the driver slowed down to navigate a curb before heading back to the highway and going south. Police followed close behind.

“Here I thought they were chasing him on the freeway,” Duarte said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Not down our street, anyway.”

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 707-521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.