Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies apprehend fugitive sex offender

A convicted sex offender wanted by Torrance police who led officers on a chase through southern Monterey County Friday morning has been apprehended.

Guy Dietz, 43, was tracked down around 4:30 p.m. using GPS and his cellphone, Sheriff’s Commander John Thornburg said. Dietz was located in the area of Highway 101 and Front Street, not far from where he’d ditched his car following a pursuit.

Thornburg said deputies were contacted by the California Highway Patrol a little before 5 a.m. to help with a pursuit of two cars associated with Dietz.

Dietz is wanted in Torrance on suspicion of impersonating an officer to rape a woman.

Authorities believed he was headed to Oregon. Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies followed the two vehicles as they traveled on Highway 101. They were able to stop one of the cars and apprehended the female driver, believed to be his wife. Further details of that apprehension weren’t immediately available.

Dietz, meanwhile, continued, getting off at Soledad where deputies later found the BMW he’s believed to have been driving abandoned in a CVS parking lot. The parking lot off Delarosa was place on lockdown while deputies searched the area.

Deputies, assisted by police officers from other agencies in south Monterey County, searched for hours with their guns drawn — checking open businesses and combing through trash receptacles. Two K9s also were on scene, but Dietz hadn’t been located by the time deputies began clearing the scene late Friday morning.

This story will be updated.