- Police were led on an hour-long pursuit when a man hopped onto an Orange County fire truck and drove off.
- The truck finally slowed down when it reached the busy streets of Anaheim, where a homeless man helped end the chase.
- The man stepped in front of the truck and reasoned with the driver to surrender peacefully, which he eventually did.
A desperate man stole a fire truck and led police to a pursuit, which was ended by an act of bravery from a homeless man who understood the situation.
Late last December at around 1:40 a.m., firefighters from Orange County were transferring a patient to the emergency unit of the UCI Medical Center when a man hopped into the truck and sped off.
The truck was tracked using GPS, but the suspect still led police on a slow-speed pursuit that lasted for over an hour.
While the driver never sped over 40 mph, he refused to stop and yield to officers.
Finally, an opportunity presented itself when the truck reached the busy city streets. As it crept along Brookhurst Street in Anaheim, California, a brave man helped end the pursuit.
Richard Lynn, a homeless man, stepped in front of the truck, forcing the driver to stop.
He then reasoned with the driver through the fire truck’s windshield for more than 20 minutes as police stood back and waited for the right time to intervene.
Richard later told reporters that he was trying to convince the driver to surrender, since he was worried that he will be hurt if he did not.
Finally, the driver listened to reason and stepped out of the truck.
He then lay flat on the ground and complied with the police officers as he was arrested.
Richard stood back during the arrest, raising his arms in surrender, and let the police do their job.
Witness Mitch Fecler recounted, “It’s just crazy how the homeless guy walked up and in front of the fire truck and started talking to him through the windshield. They just kept telling him, please get out of the truck. We don’t want to hurt you, and finally, the guy opened the door and surrendered peacefully.”
Thanks to Richard, a disastrous ending was avoided and the arrest was made peacefully. While the fire truck had minor reparable damage, nobody got hurt in the process.
Source: Inspire More