Lenco Industries, Inc., the global leader in the design and manufacture of armored police vehicles, announces that the City of Stockton, California’s BearCat® tactical armored vehicle (TAV) was instrumental in a recent incident in which three heavily armed persons robbed the Bank of the West and took three hostages.
Officer Mark Sandberg of the Stockton Police Department SWAT team says the Bearcat, which was put into service in 2012, performed extremely well in the incident. “During the hour long pursuit and constant rolling gun battle, the subjects fired four rounds at the Bearcat with an AK-47.” He adds, “The Bearcat was hit four times, three on the chassis and one hit to the right rear tire. The tire eventually went flat, but due to the run flat set up we were able to bring the Bearcat to the end of the pursuit, enabling us to safely approach the suspect vehicle. The three rounds that hit the chassis, well to say they were defeated by the armor is an understatement.”
The BearCat is widely used to protect law enforcement and civilian populations in the face of armed barricades, high risk warrants and active shooter scenarios. According to a news article in online publication Recordnet.com, police purchased the vehicle to provide greater protection for SWAT team members who are often called on to serve high-risk search warrants.
About Lenco Industries, Inc.
Lenco Industries designs and manufactures armored tactical vehicles for Law Enforcement, Military and Government agencies located throughout the United States and allied nations around the globe. Lenco vehicles are trusted every day to protect our nation’s defenders and first responders in safeguarding our domestic homeland security, as well as downrange in hostile regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Lenco’s client base includes hundreds of Law Enforcement Special Response teams, including the Los Angeles Police, LA Sheriff SEB, Boston PD and the New York Police Department. Lenco is also a proud supplier to the US State Department, Department of Energy, US Air Force Global Strike Command, FBI, US Marshals and many other high profile federal agencies. Lenco’s product line includes the BearCat and larger BEAR armored vehicles, with several variants of each including the MedCat, BombCat, Riot Control, VIP and MRAP blast protected vehicles. For more information, visit www.LencoArmor.com.