Stop Stick Deployments July 9 2024: Stop Stick® Pursuit News: Stolen Vehicles, Multiple County Chases
With over 500,000 vehicles equipped across the U.S. and around the world and over 50,000 documented pursuits ended safely, Stop Stick® is law enforcement’s most trusted brand today. We are committed to serving those who serve us by providing training and proven safe, simple-to-use, and effective tools. Now the Stop Sticks Weekly News:
Jul. 7– OAKLAND — A man stole an Oakland fire truck Saturday and led police officers on a wild chase through three counties, before finally being arrested near Vacaville.
Around 10:44 a.m. Saturday, a good Samaritan called the police, after noticing a man who did not look like a fire department employee milling around an East Oakland fire station while the crew was out at another emergency, said Oakland Fire Department Deputy Chief Nick Luby.
The man climbed into a wild lands truck, which Luby said the department uses to douse fires in area that larger fire trucks can’t access, and made it out of Fire Station 23, located near the intersection of Foothill and MacArthur boulevards. ,
“We call it a patrol truck,” he said. “It’s small and can go on fire trails.”
Early dispatch reports indicated California Highway Patrol officers chased the truck through Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties, following the truck from Highway 24 onto Interstate 680 and Interstate 80 before it exited onto Interstate 505.
CHP officers ultimately used spike strips to slow the vehicle, which stopped near Vacaville, Luby said. Officers arrested the driver at 11:45 a.m., according to Oakland police. The man’s name has not yet been released.
There was no damage to the truck other than tire damage, Luby said. There was some damage to the doorway of the station’s garage, which Luby said likely occurred when the truck was driven out. No injuries were reported.
“It ended as well as could have hoped considering the situation,” he said.
PORT ORANGE, Fla. – Body-worn camera video shared Sunday by Port Orange police shows the pursuit and arrest of a man accused of using a stolen car to knock an officer over and to ram police vehicles.
Port Orange officers located the car on Friday as it sat parked at the Sunrise Pointe Apartments, the police department said on social media. As an officer approached the car and attempted to detain its driver — identified as Ah’lijah Aman Mah’di Balk, 20, of Daytona Beach — Balk threw the vehicle into reverse and knocked the officer over, the post states.
Balk drove off as multiple officers pursued him, with the video depicting several instances in which he rammed officers’ vehicles with the stolen car. The footage also shows an officer at one point calling out that they performed a successful stop stick hit on the car.
After losing control of the car along Clyde Morris Boulevard near Madeline Avenue, Balk ran away toward a wooded area where officers caught him moments later.
Balk faces charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, petit theft, unlawful possession of another’s personal identification, fleeing and/or attempting to elude law enforcement, criminal mischief at or above $1,000, obstructing an officer without violence, resisting arrest with violence, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and three counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, records show.
The pursuit began on County Highway B near Interstate 41. When a deputy turned on his lights and sirens to stop the vehicle for speeding and running a stop sign, the driver instead sped off.
Deputies chased the fleeing vehicle onto I-41 southbound and then called for help from neighboring law enforcement agencies.
Near Slinger, the sheriff’s office said the driver tried to get off the interstate in an attempt to avoid stop sticks. A deputy performed a PIT maneuver, but the driver was able to regain control and get back onto the interstate.
The pursuit continued southbound until Washington County sheriff’s deputies and Germantown police officers successfully used stop sticks. The fleeing vehicle tried to get off at County Line Road but lost control and went into a ditch. Some vehicles that were uninvolved in the chase also hit the stop sticks and got flat tires in the process.
Police are chasing a possibly drunk driver in South LA.
The pursuit began just after 9:10 p.m. and Los Angeles Police Department officers could be seen chasing the white Infiniti G35 with blacked out windows and no license plates throughout surface streets in the area.
At times, the driver could be seen driving on the wrong side of the road, sometimes swerving around other cars driving along the same road.
A long line of patrol cars could be seen following close behind.
At around 9:30 p.m., the suspect drove over a spike strip laid in the middle of the street near W. 62nd Street and Figueroa Street, but continued driving. Some smoke could be seen showing from the back tires.
A short time later the driver and a passenger, both wearing hoodies, jumped out of the car and ran into the neighborhood just a block away. The car continued to roll away despite no one behind the wheel.
Lyon County deputies say a pair of law enforcement pursuits Tuesday morning, one short and in town, the other lengthy and across several counties, were connected.
The first incident developed in Emporia around 4 am after deputies noticed a possibly stolen black SUV. Sgt. Zach Shafer says the incident began at Sixth and Prairie and reached speeds of over 100 mph, so he called off the pursuit shortly after 4 am. The vehicle in question was last seen in the area of 18th and Rural.
The second pursuit began around 5:40 am as deputies saw the same SUV on Interstate 35 near Emporia’s east city limits. The resulting chase went through Coffey, Osage and Franklin counties before stopping about 6.5 miles southeast of Ottawa. Speeds were again above 100 mph for much of the pursuit. Stop sticks were deployed four separate times during the pursuit. Nobody was hurt.
A currently unnamed man and a woman identified by Franklin County deputies as 36-year-old Sarah Rogers of Granby, Missouri, were both taken into custody afterward.
CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) – The initial court appearance is set for Monday, July 8 for a man facing multiple charges in connection with a police chase in a stolen vehicle.
Emanuel Crespo, 27, of Cape Girardeau, is facing a long list of charges, from stealing and theft to felony assault, in connection with a stolen vehicle and the police chase.
He’s set to appear before the judge at 2:30 p.m.
The police chase through Cape Girardeau and outside the city limits ended with a crash and his arrest on Wednesday morning, July 3.
According to court documents, Crespo tried to steal a vehicle in Capaha Park. When he was unsuccessful, he went to a second vehicle which is the one he used to lead police on a chase.
The chase started near Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus, close to South Frederick and Morgan Oak Streets, when an officer tried to pull over Crespo, who had been doing donuts.
SEMO Department of Public Safety Captain Jason Morgan said when Crespo did not pull over, the chase began. DPS officers followed the vehicle around Cape Girardeau.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Memphis Police Department has arrested and charged two teenagers and one adult who they say were involved in a police pursuit on I-240.
Around 2:00 pm, officers located a vehicle on Getwell.
The vehicle was stolen and was suspected to be a vehicle used in several robberies.
Officers deployed stop sticks and attempted a traffic stop.
The vehicle took off and officers pursued the vehicle until the vehicle entered opposing traffic on Interstate 240.
Additional officers in the area saw the vehicle side-swipe a car, and come to a stop.
Four suspects ran from the vehicle and one was taken into custody who remained in the vehicle.
A man is facing charges after a police stopped a stolen picker truck that was dragging a flaming welder.
Mounties were notified that the picker truck was stolen from a jobsite near Glenevis on Saturday morning.
They attempted to stop the truck, which they say had the picker boom out and a welder attached to it, but the driver reportedly refused to stop.
“This was a very dangerous and dynamic situation because the stolen picker truck’s boom was extended and swinging wildly into traffic and dragging a welder that had caught fire,” Mounties wrote in a Friday news release.
Police used a tire deflation device near Highway 16 and Highway 43, and the driver was taken into custody.
Mounties say some vehicles on the highway were damaged as a result of debris left by the truck, but no injuries were reported.
A pursuit involving spike strips ended with the arrest of a man Wednesday afternoon.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Department attempted to stop 33-year-old Aaron Waites of Long Creek Road for speeding around 1:45 Wednesday afternoon along the Blue Springs Parkway. However, Waites refused to stop and traveled onto Grassy Creek Road, where he cut through a yard at the Snake Road intersection and then nearly struck another deputy’s vehicle that was moving out of the way.
According to deputies, during the pursuit Waites went through multiple stop signs, passed on double yellow lines and passed on the shoulder of the West Andrew Johnson Highway. A spike strip was set up successfully at the intersection of Bright Hope Road and the Newport Highway, and Waites’ Honda came to a stop below St. James Road.
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. (VVNG.com) – A 15-year-old male was taken into custody following a high-speed pursuit in Apple Valley during the early hours of July 4, 2024.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call at around 3:01 am from a resident on Tecumseh Road.
The 34-year-old male caller reported that two vehicles had been stolen from in front of his home. The resident suspected that the stolen vehicles were being driven nearby in circles or ‘doing donuts.’
Deputies arrived on the scene promptly and discovered the abandoned stolen vehicles—one of which had collided with a parked car. Through their investigation, deputies learned that the perpetrators had abandoned the stolen vehicles and entered a green Kia Soul that was parked in the vicinity.
While responding, Deputy W. Ray spotted a green Kia Soul leaving the area. Despite attempts to pull over the vehicle, the driver did not comply, leading to a pursuit that reached speeds over 90 mph and lasted approximately 11 minutes. The chase concluded after deputies deployed spike strips, which effectively halted the vehicle.
