A faulty tail light on a stolen car triggered a high speed pursuit that started in Stockton shortly after midnight Friday that led Highway Patrol officers southward through Manteca with a 1997 red Honda being stopped on Highway 120 near South Main Street.

A Manteca couple living on Northland Road north of Manteca told of a CHP officer knocking on their door and awakening them about 2 a.m. Friday. They were asked if they owned a red Honda. The resident said she looked toward the curb where the vehicle had been parked and realized it had been taken.

They said the vehicle had been used as a commuter car but since it had malfunctioning tail lights, they hadn’t been driving it on the street. Manteca residents said they heard the pursuit sirens crisscrossing town several times before it came to an end.

Pursuing CHP officers arrested Kevin Calen Morris, 26, after stopping him with a newly cracked windshield and a blown front tire. A witness near the Mission Ridge and South Main Street intersection saw the fleeing driver spinning out in the middle of the intersection where he almost rolled the vehicle.

According to the San Joaquin County Jail’s website he was charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors with his bail set at $209,875 and a court date on the calendar for Nov. 12 in the Stockton Courthouse.

In addition Morris shouldered another $250,000 bail for outstanding warrants for three previous felonies that had been levied against him. The total bail amount is $459,875.