Motorcyclist leads police on chase into, out of city

A Corpus Christi man is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and with felony evading a police officer in a motor vehicle after a high-speed chase that started in Corpus Christi and roared along the beach in Port Aransas before ending.

Corpus Christi police Capt. Tim Wilson said an officer saw Scott McGrath, 38, driving a motorcycle eastbound on South Padre Island Drive just before noon on Tuesday, April 29. The officer gave chase, but the pursuit was called off when speeds approached 100 miles an hour. However, police continued to monitor the cyclist as he sped through Flour Bluff, onto Padre Island and north to Beach Access Road 1 in Port Aransas.

The fugitive turned toward the beach with deputy constables from Precinct 4 Constable Bobby Sherwood's office and Port Aransas police following, then headed south again along the beach. Port Aransas police dropped the chase after the motorcycle crossed the city limits into Corpus Christi again, a police spokesman said.

The man abandoned the motorcycle near a beachfront condominium and tried to get away on foot, but was found hiding in a condominium garage, Wilson said.

Nobody was hurt in the chase, which lasted more than an hour.