‘I need a doctor’ says man arrested after 100-mph driving rampage through Fresno

A Fresno man was arrested inside Manchester shopping center Tuesday morning on multiple charges following a lengthy, high-speed driving rampage through the city as he was tracked by a police helicopter.

“Help me!” and “I need a doctor,” were some of the first words Miguel Contreras, 40, shouted after he was taken into custody about 11 a.m. outside the mall.

Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said Contreras would be booked on felony evading and other counts. He was previously wanted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

Botti said the incident began near North San Pablo and East Belmont avenues, where Contreras initially began driving recklessly.

When the helicopter arrived, Contreras first sped north on North Blackstone Avenue while running multiple red lights a he fled on streets that included McKinley Avenue, Shields Avenue, Chestnut Avenue, Maple Avenue and Clovis Avenue.

He was involved in at least one collision as he drove at speeds sometimes estimated at 100 mph on the wrong side of roadways.

Contreras abandoned his car at the mall, where he was found hiding behind a clothes rack by a pursuing sheriff’s deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer. He was shot twice with Taser darts before he surrendered.

As he was led outside the mall, a women with her children insider her SUV drove up to shout at Contreras.

“You almost killed us!” she said.

This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 12:45 PM.