
A man who threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend hours before leading police on a freeway chase through the Coachella Valley was sentenced to over seven years in state prison.
Jairo Santiago Chaides, 37, of Whitewater pleaded guilty Thursday to domestic violence, felony evading and two weapons charges: exhibiting a firearm at a peace officer and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. The defense and prosecution agreed to the sentence, which a judge imposed.
The plea came less than two months after the day of the chase, which snarled freeway traffic.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, deputies were sent to investigate reports of domestic abuse about 1:45 a.m. Jan. 18 in the 12800 block of Emerald Drive in Whitewater.
Sgt. Dave Morton said Chaides assaulted his ex-girlfriend, held her against her will and, while waving a black handgun, threatened to kill her before fleeing in a Ford pickup truck, eluding deputies.
Around 4:30 p.m. that same day, the pickup was spotted on I-10 near Washington Street in Palm Desert, Morton said. As officers attempted to stop Chaides, he floored the vehicle and pointed the black handgun at deputies.
California Highway Patrol officers took over the chase as it entered I-10, deploying a spike strip near Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City, disabling the defendant's pickup, according to Morton.
"While he was sitting in the driver's seat, Chaides pointed the handgun at his own head and refused to exit the vehicle," Morton said. "After numerous attempts of requesting Chaides to surrender peacefully, a chemical agent was deployed."
Morton said that after the tear gas, Chaides was taken into custody without further incident and treated at a hospital for a self-inflicted non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
He recovered within weeks.
The chase and standoff closed the freeway for hours.
Court records show that Chaides had a prior conviction for being in possession of a gun while under a restraining order.
City News Service and Desert Sun staff writer Eric Hartley contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Man who led Interstate 10 police chase gets 7 years in prison