187 Vehicle/Hunt

[RolnCode3]

Please tell me someone was listening to that awesome Ranger 26 who found the vehicle taken after the 187! It was the black Saturn VUE taken from Fair Oaks Blvd. in Sheriff District 4. That awesome Ranger spotted it about 20 minutes later near Arden and McClaren. The BOLO went out about 5 minutes before the awesome Ranger saw the car, with suspect still inside. A pseudo-pursuit (didn't light him up) ensued, followed by a footbail.

I just might know that Ranger! :wink:

BTW-Apparently suspect put 3 rounds to center mass, and 1 to the head of the victim. Unfortunately, it was a .44 Mag. Ranger didn't know that at the time. Also, don't mention that Ranger broke cover for a minute to make sure he didn't get ambushed from the side (it was dumb, I admit)

 

[ECPD279]

Pseudo-pursuit....I like it. Did you, I mean he...the "awesome Ranger", still have to write it as a pursuit?

 

[RolnCode3]

Nah. I never lit it up, because I was too far away to read the plate. It just matched the description, so I decided to check it out. He just sped up and I was trying to catch up to him. We were on this tiny street, that dead-ended. It was obvious he sped up, but it didn't qualify as a 2800. He pulled into a residence driveway, jumped out, looked back at me, and took off running. That's when I could finally see the plate, and realized it was the one I had memorized...thus, the right vehicle. Pucker factor went WAY up at that point.

We had about 50 units on the call (which probably puts it close to 75 officers), including several SWAT guys, 3 or 4 K9s, and at least 4 agencies, including 3 Sheriff Districts. We think he still had the .44 when I pulled in behind him, but luckily he wanted to run instead of shooting it out with me.

BTW-The awesome Ranger bit is only because that's the first time I've been actively involved in the apprehension of a 187 suspect...extra cool factor for spotting a BOLO vehicle. Just quite happy tonight. Also, this is in Sacramento for those that don't know where I am.

 

[selgaran]

Thanks for the good work!

 

[RolnCode3]

You're welcome. Just trying to do the right thing.

Here's a link on the Sac Sheriff's Dept. website to their press release:
http://sacsheriff.com/media/0107_187.cfm

 

[SAR923]

Good job picking up that vehicle from the BOLO, Bill. Had you called for backup before he did the footbail or only after you saw the plate? Those are the scary situations to be in. So many times, you think you've got someone or a vehicle that matches a BOLO and it turns out not to be a match that you kind of expect it to be a non-event. I'm glad the bad guy decided to take off instead of shoot it out with you. If nothing else, I'll bet you found out how fast your thumb break holster worked in real life.

 

[RolnCode3]

He footbailed before I said a word on the radio. I had NO idea it was going to be the right vehicle. He jumped out, I saw the plate, got out and drew my gun, but he was already running. I didn't even get any commands out before he was gone...then I grabbed the radio and started calling for cover. I couldn't see the plate until the vehicle was stopped, which put me WAY behind the curve. And yes, I've thanked my lucky stars that we didn't pull up behind him to see him standing there with a .44 Magnum shooting at us. Would have been a fight for survival at that point. The street that he sped up on was only about 100 yards long, so there wasn't time to make it obvious he was running.

I actually have a Safariland Raptor holster, level 3. I've practiced with it many times (and will often do a few practice draws a day just for the heck of it).

 

[SAR923]

Sounds like you were lucky on a lot of points on this one. I think you may have used up one of however many lives you're given on the street. Your vehicle door wouldn't have provided much cover against a .44 magnum.

I've got an older Safariland 070/SS3 holster that needs replacing and have been looking at the 6070. Is this the one you're using? If so, is it hi- ride or low ride? I prefer the low ride so the hammer's not poking me in the ribs when I'm riding but it seems almost eveyone used the hi-ride version. I'm also torn between ditching all my leather and going to nylon but, after 25 years, nylon still just doesn't look right to me. :shock:

 

[RolnCode3]

That's the one I'm using. I have an all-nylon setup. I used to have the 070, but switched to the 6070 when we switched from P229s to the 226. It's the mid-ride version. I think they only have a low ride and a mid ride. The low ride has a 1.5" drop (I think). The draw is similar, but there is still a lot of relearning because it is different enough.

And, yes, I'm down 1 life after that one. Very lucky.

 

[RolnCode3]

Here's another article. I didn't even know how bad this was until tonight. I hadn't been reading all of the articles, and the updates.

http://sacbee.com/content/news/story/11984595p-12859801c.html

 

[mdulrich]

Dirty Harry had the right idea for that breed of pond scum.

Mike

 

[scannerboy02]

I heard the radio call. I had a crew on the way to the homicide scene and quickly diverted them when I heard it. I also wanted to thank you for talking to my reporter. Good work.

 

[RolnCode3]

Thank you. Now the real work begins, with the prosecution. I have to thank the news crews for doing a good job telling the whole story. They've been pretty gracious to me and my department in this endeavour.

 

[OpSec]

Good job.

 

[northzone]

Good job Bill.

 

[RolnCode3]

Most recent article. This one is basically an ego stroker, though. Victim's father called the office tonight and wanted to say thanks. Wants to meet us as well. Memorial service is tomorrow. It has grown so large that it had to be moved from their church to the convention center downtown.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/community_news/arden_carmichael/story/12014097p-12884563c.html

 

[SAR923]

Good article, Bill. I'm glad you got the mention as the guy who made the vehicle. Your boss should give you an extra day off for the good publicity for the Park Ranger Department.

I feel bad for the poor victim but I wonder why he had so many loaded weapons under his bed? All my weapons except for the one I'm carrying are in a gun safe if I'm not home.

 

[RolnCode3]

According to Dad, they are/were both gun fanatics. Also big hunters.

The really tough thing, is that the gun the victim was killed with was a gift from his Dad. It was a S&W revolver that the Dad gave to him at some point.

BTW-My boss is loving the good publicity, especially after we got our nose tweaked about a month ago over something else. Kind of made us look bad (although it was the actions of 3 officers, not something widespread)

 

[SAR923]

You'd think if they were real gun fantatics and hunters they would have learned the value of gun safes. This should really be a lesson to keep guns locked up when you're not at home so someone who's burglarizing your house can't use the weapons against you, not even considering all those weapons getting on the street. That's really too bad that he was killed with a gift from his dad.

I'm glad to see "tree cops" getting some recognition for their law enforcement work. I think the general public often doesn't realize how important park rangers are to keeping our parks safe for the average joe.

That was interesting that you had a park ranger assistant with you. I assume he wasn't armed so it must have been a real scary experience for him. I don't know if you guys have shotguns in your vehicles but I remember way back when I was doing my first ride alongs and the first thing I always wanted to know was where the shotgun release was. I figured I'd have at least have half a chance if things went really haywire.

I was reading the original message in this thread again and, seeing your avatar so many times, I just couldn't help reading it without a Chief Wiggams voice coming through. It gave me a good laugh.

 

[OpSec]

I'm glad to see "tree cops" getting some recognition for their law enforcement work. I think the general public often doesn't realize how important park rangers are to keeping our parks safe for the average joe.

We call 'em "trout troopers" here...but they do serve a needed purpose and we don't really grouse them too badly. There are alot of troopers that were DNR or vise-versa.