By Beatriz E. Valenzuela
Daily Press - Victorville (California)
LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. — Erratic driving drew attention to a man who stole a sheriff ‘s patrol car and then led deputies on nearly an hour-long chase before being stopped Wednesday morning, officials said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department patrol car was reported stolen from the Lucerne Valley Sheriff’s substation by a deputy at about 8 a.m., sheriff’s officials said.
“It was at the beginning of the shift and the deputy was loading his gear into the unit,” Jodi Miller, spokeswoman for the Sheriff ‘s Department, said.
Several witnesses in the Fawnskin area near Big Bear Lake reported seeing a man in a patrol car driving erratically, Miller said.
Deputies, with the assistance of the Sheriff’s Aviation Unit, located the man as he was returning to Lucerne Valley, officials said.
Two spike strips were unsuccessfully used to try to stop the vehicle, officials said. The driver was finally stopped near the Mitsubishi cement plant after deputies bumped the stolen patrol car with their own unit in a tactic called the PIT maneuver, officials said. It took three PIT maneuvers to stop the man, Miller said.
Sheriff’s officials Tasered a combative Aaron Lane, 36, before arresting him at 9 a.m., officials said.
Officials shut down Highway 18 at Midway Avenue for about an hour until an investigation could be concluded, according to the California Highway Patrol Web site.
There was no weapon in the vehicle when it was stolen from the station, officials said.
“Thankfully the witnesses saw the suspect and noticed he did not look like he belonged in the unit, and they called it in,” Miller said.
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