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A man who fled after crashing a stolen car into a Menlo Park police vehicle and hid inside a garage before he was arrested Wednesday after a manhunt is being held in county jail as an undocumented immigrant pending deportation, a San Mateo County sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Valentin Arias Jimenez, 29, of East Palo Alto, is in the San Mateo County Jail on hold pending deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Deputy Rebecca Rosenblatt.

Mr. Jimenez, whose country of origin is Mexico, was arrested by Menlo Park police on Wednesday inside a garage in the 1300 block of Madera Avenue on multiple charges after he drove his car into a police cruiser and ran into
a residential area, police said.

Police secured a perimeter around the neighborhood, bordered by Carlton and Hamilton avenues, Ivy Drive and Willow Road and officers from the sheriff's department and Palo Alto Police Department joined in to search for the suspect.
Mr. Jimenez rammed the police vehicle at about noon Wednesday after officers spotted his car, determined that it had been reported stolen and tried to pull him over.

Mr. Jimenez was arrested for possessing a stolen car, assault with a deadly weapon, felony hit and run, and resisting or obstructing a police officer. He pleaded not guilty in San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday, Nov. 2.

See earlier story here.

— Bay City News Service

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