Farm worker assists in pot bust

A tip to the Arizona Department of Public Safety about people loading bundles of marijuana into the back of a car near I-8 and Stanfield Road led to a high-speed chase, suspect tripped into cow manure, an assaulted dairy worker and the arrest of two men Sunday.

The incident started just after 8 a.m. when DPS was alerted to the possibility of pot being put into a green Ford Taurus, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

A PCSO deputy spotted the vehicle about 20 minutes later traveling northbound on White and Parker Road. A traffic stop was initiated but the vehicle fled at a high rate of speed.

During a 35-minute chase, deputies attempted several times to put out spike strips to deflate the vehicles tires as the car traveled in excess of 100 mph. One deputy trying to lay out the spike strips was nearly struck by the car.

Deputies began to see thick black smoke coming from the vehicle’s underside; it came to an abrupt stop on Amarillo Valley just south of Teel Road. Two Hispanic males ran in opposite directions from the vehicle, according to a PCSO press release.

The driver ran through a nearby dairy farm as deputies chased him. As he ran through a feed yard full of cattle, a dairy worker tripped the suspect, who fell forward face first into cow manure. A startled cow stepped on the suspect while he was on the ground.

The suspect got up and punched the dairy worker several times in the face as the worker tried to restrain him. Deputies arrested Casa Grande Ruben Soto-Gonzalez, 25, for suspicion of aggravated assault, felony flight, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of marijuana.

The passenger was caught nearby hiding under a bush. Deputies arrested Daniel Aguilar-Alvarez, 40 of Mexico, on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale and possession of marijuana.

Three packaged bundles weighing 160 pounds with a street value of $120,000 were found in the car, according the sheriff’s office.