By Andrew J. Campa
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — A wild scene unfolded in front of motorists Wednesday morning after the driver of a suspected stolen big rig refused to stop for police and led officers on a chase across multiple counties. The pursuit ended in Buena Park after an armored vehicle got involved to help pin the truck in.
The big rig, which was not hauling anything at the time, was finally reined in just after 11 a.m. by multiple unmarked vehicles and Fontana police at Beach Boulevard and Franklin Street, where two men inside the vehicle exited at gunpoint.
Fontana police identified the driver as 54-year-old Buena Park resident Bill Fayed and the passenger as 42-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident Carlos Richard Mesta.
Fayed had a previous warrant for grand theft auto, while Mesta had an outstanding domestic violence warrant, according to Fontana police.
The chase began at Foothill Boulevard and Palmetto Avenue in Fontana at 9:30 a.m., according to Danny Romero, the Fontana Police Department’s public information officer.
Officers in a patrol vehicle noticed that the license plate attached to the big rig did not match the registration for the vehicle. When they attempted a traffic stop, Fayed fled, according to Romero.
Romero said the license plate was stolen off a pickup truck in Anaheim two days earlier, and the big rig had not yet been reported as stolen.
There were several tense moments in the chase leading up to its conclusion.
At one point during the pursuit, which was broadcast live on KTLA, the big rig pulled to the side of the road and its passenger communicated with a pedestrian before moving on. Later, the big rig pulled up alongside an SUV and the passenger appeared to pick up an item, about the size of a phone, set on top of the SUV’s roof.
Then, an armored vehicle known as a BearCat broadsided the big rig in an attempt to stop it. Armored vehicles are not typically involved in police pursuits. Romero said the vehicle belongs to North County S.W.A.T., which serves several north Orange County communities.
Several other unmarked SUVs with officers wearing tactical vests were also chasing the big rig, Fontana Police Officer Steven Reed said.
The chase ultimately came to an end after the BearCat managed to get in front of the big rig and block its path. An officer inside the BearCat emerged from a porthole at the top of the vehicle and trained a rifle on the passengers inside the big rig. They quickly surrendered as officers swarmed the intersection.
Reed, who was on the air with KTLA during the pursuit, said chasing a big rig brings other factors into play beyond a regular police chase.
“There’s a lot more to watch on a bigger vehicle like that and trying to watch inside the vehicle and see what movements they’re doing,” he said. “Access can be different and there could be weapons inside the vehicle.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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