BATON ROUGE – A vigilant police officer arrested an accused career burglar after a police chase this week.

Johnny Blakes was known to authorities – wanted in connection with a series of utility trailer thefts and junk yard burglaries dating back months. Blakes was booked into jail a few days after crashing into an apartment building following a police chase Tuesday night.

Police said an officer recognized Blakes and his vehicle near the corner of Florida Boulevard and Lobdell Blvd. When the officer attempted to pull Blakes over, he sped off, police wrote in arrest documents.

Blakes drove to an apartment complex at the corner of Lobdell and Greenwell Springs where he drove through the parking lot with the officer following him. Blakes drove fast and erratically through the complex parking lot, authorities said, and eventually lost control and crashed into an apartment building.

After running from the wrecked car and into a nearby neighborhood, Blakes was arrested, police said.

Blakes was booked on nearly a dozen various charges related to the chase and previous crimes detectives have said he was connected to. Among the charges are cruelty to animals, tied to a case where police said Blakes left his dog in a hot vehicle in the middle of the day while he burglarized a junk yard and hid from police who responded to the complaint at the time. Officers in that case rescued the dog and brought it to a shelter.

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