Deputies Arrest Arizona Man in Stolen Vehicle

A Well Executed P.I.T Maneuver ends pursuit

GREENFIELD—A deputy from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested 31-year-old Arizona resident Russell Anthony Venezio because he was driving a stolen vehicle.

On Friday May 3, Deputy Garcia of the Monterey County Sheriff’s South County Division decided to do a vehicle check on a Blue 2005 Subaru Outback. When the vehicle came back as stolen Deputy Garcia asked Venezio to step out of the vehicle but he refused.

Venezio even went as far as to lock all the doors and barricaded himself inside the car.  As he sat there wrestling with his “fight or flight” emotions, he decided that flight would be the better choice and fled the scene.

His decision led deputies to pursue him down Highway 101 for some 22-miles at a high rate of speed.  As speeds of the pursuit reached 120 miles per hours deputies began fearing for the public’s safety.

Then Venezio made an unexpected move and lowered his speed to 30 miles per hour but did not stop.  It was then that a deputy executed the Precision Immobilization Technique or PIT maneuver that effectively ended the pursuit just outside Greenfield.

“The deputy did receive prior approval before executing the P.I.T maneuver,” Monterey County Sheriff’s Commander Lisa Nash said. “It is our policy that a deputy can request to use a pit maneuver but must get prior approval before actually performing it.”

Venezio was booked into the Monterey County Jail on charges of 10851VC – being in possession of a stolen vehicle, 496PC – being in possession of stolen property, and 148PC  – resisting or obstructing a peace officer.

Because Venezio was also wanted in the state of Arizona, he was denied bail.

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