A man who led law enforcement officers on a 100-mile chase after being accused of sexually assaulting an acquaintance at her French Valley home was sentenced Friday to a two-year prison term.
Bryan Mayo Tangas
Bryan Mayo Tangas, 23, pleaded guilty last month to witness intimidation under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped charges of forcible rape, false imprisonment and reckless disregard of public safety. Had he been convicted by a jury on those counts, Tangas could have faced 10 years in prison.
Superior Court Judge Albert Wojcik certified the plea deal and imposed a low-term sentence for the witness intimidation count.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin McDonald, a French Valley woman called deputies shortly after 5 a.m. on Feb. 12 and alleged that a friend had sexually assaulted her at her home in the 32000 block of Dowling Court.
The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, told deputies that she managed to get away from Tangas, who drove around trying to find her, but couldn’t by the time patrol officers arrived.
A deputy searching in the area of Buck and Borrell roads spotted the 6-foot-3, 180-pound defendant, who immediately fled in his car, speeding onto Rancho California Road toward Temecula, where he reached Interstate 15 and headed north, McDonald said.
Deputies turned the pursuit over to California Highway Patrol officers, who chased Tangas at high speed all the way to Barstow.
McDonald said officers deployed spike strips, disabling the defendant’s vehicle, at which point he was arrested. He has been in custody since that time.
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