A 37-year-old Ceres man who was wanted on warrants successfully evaded Ceres Police Wednesday but later got arrested after causing a multiple car hit and run collision near Lander Avenue and Highway 99 in Turlock.

At approximately 4 p.m., Ceres Police Detective Brian Petersen was on duty in an unmarked vehicle when he observed erratic driving of a Toyota Camry on southbound Highway 99. The driver, who was identified as Nicholas Espino Diaz, exhibited dangerous behavior, including nearly side-swiping another vehicle and tailgating.

Near the Fourth Street exit in Ceres, Detective Petersen initiated a traffic stop. Espino-Diaz continued to drive slowly southbound on Highway 99 and eventually stopped under the Pine Street Overpass. As Petersen and other officers approached, they saw the vehicle was still in drive. When they ordered Espino-Diaz to put the vehicle in park, he rolled up the window and sped off.

Officers pursued him for a short time but he evaded capture and was last seen exiting the freeway at the Keyes Road exit.

A subsequent search of the area did not locate the vehicle.

The Turlock crash occurred at 7:46 p.m. The reporting party gave dispatchers the license place number of the responsible vehicle. The driver turned out to be Espino-Diaz. Ceres Police confirmed that Espino-Diaz had been involved in a Ceres pursuit earlier in the day.

Espino-Diaz fled from the accident scene as the first Turlock Police officer arrived.

“Another officer located a male subject running southbound on Lander towards Highway 99,” said Turlock Police spokeswoman Dominique Sanchez. “The officer attempted to stop the suspect but he refused to comply with commands.”

Espino-Diaz ran up the embankment of the highway and crossed the southbound lanes into an embankment just south of the highway, with officers giving chase over several lanes of traffic, Sanchez said.

“Canine Ace and his handler arrived on scene and commands were given before our canine was deployed,” Sanchez said.

Espino-Diaz was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, driving on a restricted license, hit and run accident causing injury, probation violations and a felony warrant.

(Sabra Stafford contributed to this report).