TEMECULA - A Temecula teen was arrested early Monday in connection with a high-speed chase, carjacking and an officer-involved shooting on Interstate 215 the night before.

Joshua Alan Richie, 19, was found at the Comfort Inn on Jefferson Avenue in Temecula and arrested about 7 a.m., said Investigator Jerry Franchville, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Richie was arrested and booked at Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of kidnapping, kidnapping for robbery, carjacking, receiving stolen property and assault with a deadly weapon, according to jail records. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, records state.

Also found at the hotel was the red Ford Focus that authorities say Richie carjacked as he attempted to elude pursuing deputies on Sunday night, Franchville said.

Police found personal items belonging to the carjack victim in Richie's possession, the investigator said.

Richie is suspected of being the driver of a stolen 2002 Mercedes Benz that sheriff's deputies started chasing about 6:45 p.m. Sunday from Fourth Street and Wilkerson Avenue in Perris.

Richie had just dropped off his girlfriend in that area as deputies went to check on the reported stolen Mercedes, Franchville said.

"She was detained (after the pursuit started) and said she didn't know the car was stolen," Franchville said.

Ultimately, authorities were able to gather enough information to possibly identify the driver of the Mercedes and that led them to Richie's location Monday morning, he added.

During Sunday night's chase, the Mercedes - which had been fleeing at speeds reaching about 100 mph - was involved in a crash on southbound I-215 south of Newport Road in Menifee.

Two other cars, a Chevrolet Cobalt and a Mitsubishi Lancer, were damaged during the 7:15 p.m. crash but no one was injured, California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Thatcher said Monday.

Two women in a passing Ford Focus stopped to see if anyone needed any help, but then became victims of the fleeing suspect.

Richie is accused of carjacking for reportedly forcing the woman driving the Ford from her car, then speeding off, authorities said. The driver was able to get out of the car, but an 18-year-old woman in the passenger seat was unable to escape before Richie drove away with the Ford, Franchville said.

At the next offramp, Scott Road, the Focus exited the freeway and, as it slowed, the woman jumped from the car. A deputy who was chasing the Ford stopped to check on the woman, who had minor scapes and bruises.

Richie reportedly made a U-turn on Scott Road and drove right toward the deputy who then fired at the car, Franchville said. The deputy was not injured and authorities are not saying how many shots he fired.

The Ford was hit by gunfire, Franchville said, but Richie did not have any gunshot wounds. Richie was taken to a local hospital after his arrest to be checked because of the crash on the freeway.

Doctors gave the OK for him to be booked and he was taken to Southwest Detention Center in French Valley.

After the deputy fired at the car Sunday night, the Ford got back onto southbound I-215 and was chased into Murrieta.

At Los Alamos Road, a sheriff's deputy lost control of his patrol car and crashed into a concrete barrier at the offramp, Thatcher said.

The Ford Focus exited the freeway at Murrieta Hot Springs Road after which pursuing deputies lost track of the car, authorities said.

The car ultimately made it into Temecula where, according to one woman, it nearly smashed into her car.

Grace Helton, 59, was headed out to pick up a dinner order when her close call happened in the area of La Serena Way and Walcott Lane.

"If I had been going through there three to five seconds later, it would have crashed into me," Helton said.

"This little red car just darted right in front of me," she said.

Helton described seeing the car airborne, then on two wheels as it made a turn at high speed.

"I thought it was just kids monkeying around at first," she said.

Helton says she believes her granddaughter saved her life.

"Just before I left, I decided to walk back and give my granddaughter a kiss in the Jacuzzi," Helton said.

"If I had not done that …," she said, her voice trailing off.

- Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.