Photo: Colton Smith
CHICO – Due to the stay-at-home order, towns such as Chico have become virtual “ghost towns” of inactivity. Vehicle traffic seems to be nearly non-existent in the mornings.
The Chico Police Department asserts that this is bad news for car thieves. Case in point occurred near midnight on April 4.
An officer saw a green Honda on W. 9th Street. No other cars were around to attract the officer’s attention.
A registration check revealed that the car was stolen. As the officer tried to stop the Honda at a gas station, its driver jumped out and ran away.
A perimeter was quickly set up and K9 officer Pax joined the search. Before long 20-year-old Orland resident Colton Smith was arrested for resisting arrest, vehicle theft, possession of a controlled substance and trespassing.
Smith was taken to Butte County Jail.
