Churchill County Sheriff's Office nabs man after high-speed pursuit

A high-speed chase that covered two counties ended early Monday morning when a California man crashed his vehicle into a cement barrier outside of Fallon.

The Churchill County Sheriff’s Office identified the driver as Jeffrey Bergquist, 40, who listed an address in Sacramento. He has been charged with possession of stolen property, terroristic threats (yelling he had a bomb) and failure to yield (a felony). Bergquist is being held in the Churchill County Jail.

The CCSO was notified of a high-speed vehicle pursuit was entering the county at about 4:37 a.m. The pursuit originated in Mineral County when a Mineral County deputy initiated a traffic stop on a white Toyota pick-up truck after confirming it was stolen out of California.

The Walker River Tribal Police reportedly deployed a tire deflation system, commonly referred to as a spike strip, prior to the pursuit entering Churchill County and were successful in deflating one tire; however, the pursuit continued at a high rate of speed. The Churchill County Sheriff’s Office and the Fallon Police Department attempted to stop the vehicle by deploying spike strips at two separate locations and were successful in deflating two of the other tires. While the suspect’s vehicle reduced speed, Bergquist continued to ignore all visual and audible indicators to stop. The pursuit continued through the city and back into the county, until Bergquist crashed. No injuries to the pubic or law enforcement were reported.