Man With White Supremacist Ties Arrested After Police Chase

A high-speed police chase Tuesday night that started in Laguna Canyon resulted in the arrest of a suspect with a reported history of involvement with Orange County's notorious white supremacist gang Public Enemy Number 1 (PEN1).

Darryl James Mason, 42, of Huntington Beach, was arrested on outstanding warrants and suspicion of evading arrest.

The event began at about 8:20 p.m., when a woman called 911 to report that Mason, her ex-husband, was creating a disturbance outside her house on Stan's Lane, a neighborhood just off Laguna Canyon Road. The woman told Laguna Beach police that she thought Mason was going to take her four-year-old son, and cautioned police that Mason was a mixed martial arts fighter as well as a member of PEN1.

When police arrived, Mason took off in a grey sedan, and made his way onto the 73 toll road. The chase wound its way through Irvine, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Santa Ana before finally ending in Anaheim. Officers from several cities as well as the California Highway Patrol were involved in the pursuit.

PEN1, born in Costa Mesa, is affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. The Los Angeles Times' Christine Hanley wrote about Mason in 2007 when he testified in a murder trial involving two PEN1 members. In that article, Henley described Mason thusly:

His ink-stained body carries symbols of the Third Reich, and his police record speaks loudly of his days in Public Enemy Number One.

Mason has stolen cars, beaten people and been caught more than once with methamphetamine, he acknowledged on the stand. He once shot a man who pulled a gun on him, but the criminal case against him was later dropped as a matter of self-defense.

Swastikas and "SS" markings tattooed on his shoulders echo sympathies with Nazi Germany. The back of his arms carry the words "White Pride."

In addition to outstanding warrants and evading arrest, Laguna Beach police say they will pursue additional charges against Mason of making terrorist threats and battery.