New California law allows some mentally ill offenders to get treatment, possibly get charges dropped

Just after 3 a.m. on April 7, Matthew Gioia pressed the accelerator of his white Hyundai Elantra, leading Carlsbad police on a one-mile pursuit that reached speeds of 80 mph before the car crashed.

Gioia’s arrest would have been an otherwise routine skirmish between police and a motorist if not…