Scott Peterson, whose parents live in San Diego, was driving there when he was taken into custody, Wasden said, adding that the arrest was made before the DNA tests had been completed.
Lockyer said authorities feared Peterson would flee if he became aware of the developments in the case.
"He was in San Diego, near the [Mexican] border ... perhaps since he was aware of the fact that there was surveillance that he might try to run," the attorney general said.
"Driving up and down the freeway, he was aware of surveillance teams, was waving at them and being kind of a smart aleck, and so they finally decided that they ought to just pull him in," Lockyer said, adding that police had followed Scott "for a number of days, maintaining surveillance, wiretaps on phones, trackers on vehicles to try to accumulate the evidence."
The arrest took place in the parking lot of the Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course, witnesses said.
He sure is a cocky SOB, that's for sure