Hesperia man gets prison time after leading deputies on chase

VICTORVILLE • A Hesperia man was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison after he was found with stolen weapons and led deputies on a high-speed chase.

Adam James Bachelier, 30, accepted the prosecution’s offer and pleaded guilty to attempting to evade peace officers with disregard for safety and being a felon possessing a firearm. He has a prior strike from his 2001 robbery conviction in Victorville, for which he had been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Judge Lorenzo Balderrama accepted the plea bargain and sentenced him immediately Wednesday.

On Jan. 21, Victorville deputies responded a storage facility in the 12100 block of Locust Avenue for a fight between a couple, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said.

The couple was gone when the deputies arrived, but they had left the storage unit open and officials saw several weapons. Investigators found weapons and items that had been stolen during several burglaries committed throughout the Victor Valley, officials said.

The following day on Sixth Avenue in Hesperia, Victorville deputies spotted Bachelier in a car and tried to stop him. But the defendant refused to stop and led deputies on a chase through several busy streets, running stop signs and driving into oncoming traffic, according officials.

Bachelier — a parolee at large — finally stopped and ran off, but was quickly found and arrested, officials said.

He had also been sentenced to one year and four months in prison in 2008 for pleading guilty to possession of controlled substance and then in 2010 for pleading guilty to attempted false imprisonment.

According to court records, Sophia Loraine Mestas, the 27-year-old mother of Bachelier’s child, is also charged with receiving known stolen property, obstructing public officer and being a felon with a firearm in the Jan. 21 case. It’s unclear if she was the one Bachelier was fighting at the storage facility.

Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or TShimura@VVDailyPress.com. Follow Tomoya on Facebook at facebook.com/ShimuraTomoya.

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