The traffic jam on Highway 91 in Anaheim brought traffic to a standstill for six hours

A police chase that resulted in a six-hour traffic gridlock on the 91 Freeway began with the Corona police investigation of a man accused of violating a restraining order curbing domestic violence and ended with his suicide in the street.

Efrain Quezada, 40, of La Puente, was already under investigation by Corona police days before Friday’s chase, said police Colonel Tobias Kouroubacalis.

Corona officers were actively searching for Quezada, who was accused of stalking, threatening criminal acts and violating a domestic violence restraining order.

When officers found Quezada around 8:05 a.m. Friday, they attempted to stop him in the area of ​​McKinley Street and Griffin Way in Corona, but he refused to stop.

Instead, he engaged in a roughly 15-minute chase with officers on the west side of Freeway 91 before stopping his blue four-door sedan in the middle of the roadway.

The Anaheim and Corona police departments corralled the limousine with their armored vehicles, preventing him from moving the car.

“Almost the entire time, (the Corona police crisis negotiators) were on the phone with him, trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender,” Kouroubacalis said.

The standoff closed both sides of the highway for about six hours. The California Highway Patrol asked drivers behind the standoff to exit the highway.

The negotiation process remained inconclusive and Quezada took his own life by gunshot wound around midday, Kouroubacalis said.

Traffic on the east side of the 91 Freeway resumed at around 12:45 p.m., but the west side remained closed until 3:48 p.m. while the Orange County coroner’s office and forensics team conducted their investigation, according to the Caltrans District 12 account on the social media platform X.

During the standoff, police vehicles formed a barrier between Quezada and the mile-long line of waiting motorists.

Kouroubacalis said he was aware that people had complained about the traffic.

“Our response to that is that if it had been their family member or friend, they would expect us or another law enforcement agency to make reasonable efforts to peacefully remove him from the car,” he said.

“We did everything we could to get him to volunteer and get out of the car, but it just didn’t work,” Kouroubacalis said.