Photo: Stolen fire truck
Santa Barbara County – What was he thinking, stealing a fire truck?
The odds of success as a car thief are always questionable. What about when the thief steals a vehicle belonging to a governmental, law enforcement, or fire protection agency?
A stolen marked truck belonging to Cal Fire recently cruised through a small town. How small? So small it doesn’t even have a traffic light. This quickly attracted the attention of Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies on routine patrol.
It was just before the noon hour on July 27th in Los Alamos. It is a former stagecoach stop with a population of less than 1900 and no street delivery postal service. Deputies began to tail the truck’s route of travel “while additional resources responded.”
At that point, the suspect driver spotted the cops behind him. Then he “began actively evading,” leading to an active pursuit by law enforcement. The pursuit included the SBSD Air Support Unit helicopter and multiple CHP units.
The suspect led the cops on a circuitous route on multiple state highways. He made a series of U-turns leading toward U.S. Air Force Base Vandenberg.
But a final U-turn proved to be the undoing of 38-year-old Northern California transient Donald Schellinger, as he attempted to turn across a “sandy soft-centered median” on Highway 135 and lost control of the truck as it bogged down in the sand.
Deputies “arrested Schellinger at gunpoint” and took him into custody. He was then transferred to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on charges of felony reckless evading, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft and parole violation.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department
