MAN, 37, ARRESTED IN DUI TRUCK IN 2 CRASHES WITH CURB, LIGHT POLE.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A drunk-driver suspect led a sheriff's deputy on a brief chase Sunday when he was sighted after a hit-and-run crash, officials said Monday.

The chase ended seconds after it started when the Sylmar man's pickup truck hit a curb and then a street-light pole on Avenue L near Sierra Highway, deputies said.

``It was a very short pursuit,'' Deputy Dennis Campbell said.

Miguel Gutierrez, 37, was in custody on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, hit-and-run driving and driving without a license. The truck belonged to Gutierrez's brother, Campbell said.

Gutierrez is suspected of having driven the truck earlier Sunday evening when he hit a vehicle near Avenue I and 25th Street East and drove off, Campbell said.

A sheriff's deputy looking for the hit-and-run vehicle spotted Gutierrez's 1995 Ford F150 truck on Sierra Highway, heading north from Avenue M, and noticed it had collision damage, Campbell said.

The deputy made a U-turn to follow the truck and saw it turn left through a red traffic signal onto the on-ramp to Avenue L, Campbell said. The deputy flipped on his patrol car's red light, and within seconds the truck crashed into a curb and a light pole, Campbell said.

Gutierrez suffered cuts on his face in the crash, Campbell said.