New details on Fresno County shooting, chase suspect

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County Sheriff's Deputies found a creative conclusion to a wild police chase as they caught a shooting suspect in rush hour traffic Tuesday.

David Wayne Brown is booked at the Fresno County Jail for a parole violation, but prosecutors could charge him Wednesday with attempted murder and evading arrest.

Brown's day ended in cuffs in the back of a sheriff's deputy's pickup truck, but it literally took a lot of twists and turns to get there.

Investigators say it started about 25 miles away in Centerville with an ex-girlfriend in his car.

"They were apparently in the car together," said sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti. "Something happened to where shots are fired and she's left basically on the canal."

A farmworker found her in the remote area with a gunshot wound to the face and a couple other injuries as well.

She could still talk enough to tell deputies who shot her, though, so they tracked Brown to Clovis and a home where he sometimes lives.

But when they found him, this time with another woman, he took off.

"Anywhere from 20 up to 60-65 mph as he took this crazy path through Clovis and Fresno," Botti said.

Deputies backed off on the ground while a helicopter followed Brown's car, and a couple of them beat him to Fresno and Bullard.

Witnesses tell Action News they saw deputies armed and ready as Brown drove up and saw his path blocked.

When he tried to wiggle away by going through a gas station parking lot, one of the deputies pinned him up against a long bed tow truck.

"It's too bad they got some damage to their vehicle but it worked out that it was a nice barrier to pinch his vehicle up against, not only to stop it but they couldn't get out the doors of the vehicle," Botti said.

Brown has served prison time for attempted robbery on a home invasion six years ago and sheriff's deputies say he's a gang associate.

They also say the shooting victim's condition has improved drastically.