Fleeing suspect no match for East Bay parks cop - a trained runner

OAKLAND, Calif. - A convicted felon thought he could outrun an East Bay parks police officer - who also happens to be an experienced distance runner.

He thought wrong.

"I'm a former triathlete and yeah - I love running," said Officer Eileen Swanson of the East Bay Regional Park District police.

Off-duty, she's completed many triathlons, including the grueling Ironman race, meaning she swims, bikes and does plenty of running.

"My co-workers, my partners know that I like to run, that I'm a runner," she said.

So trying to run from her when she's on-duty isn't such a great idea. 

A suspect found that out the hard way on Monday morning when he took off from park police in a Dodge Nitro and went the wrong way on Hegenberger Road in East Oakland. The SUV stalled, and he ran off.

A still image from police body-camera footage shows Swanson out of her police truck and beginning to give chase. There was no time to stretch.

"In this case, I felt ready to go. I felt loose and ready to go," Swanson said.

While wearing 30 pounds of gear and tactical boots, Swanson and other officers caught the suspect after a foot pursuit.

"He was huffing and puffing," Swanson said. "I had a lot of adrenaline, so it was good. I was excited that we caught him."

Police found a handgun on the driver's seat of the SUV.

KTVU has learned the suspect, Gustavo Castillo Rosales, 38, has been charged by Alameda County prosecutors with being a felon with a gun and evading arrest. He has priors for evading and carrying a concealed weapon in a car and was also wanted on outstanding warrants.

It's all in a day's work for Swanson, who joined the park police several years ago after transferring from the Contra Costa County sheriff's office. She first joined law enforcement after her own home got broken into.

If she's not riding a police horse or finding lost dogs, she's busy meeting the public and making sure criminals are running scared.

"I want to stop bad guys," Swanson said. "I want to get these people off the streets, out of our parks."

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan