Photo: Christian Estoque
FULLERTON – Social media was ablaze moments after Fullerton PD posted a runaway plane incident. Or, in this case – a thief’s crashing end in the Los Angeles suburb located in northern Orange County.
Fullerton PD made haste to the Fullerton Airport on 05/20/2020 at approximately 3:05 PM amidst reports of an aircraft that ran off the runway. Officers located the single-engine plane, crashed into a fence on the west side.
“The collision by the plane caused a hole in the fence and minor damage to the plane,” said Fullerton PD (FPD). “Fortunately, there were no injuries.”
Arriving Officers made contact with Christian Estoque (DOB 10/03/1987) of Covina. While ID’ing himself as piloting the airplane, Officers noticed inconsistencies with his statement.
“Notably, Officers discovered that Estoque did not possess a pilot’s license.” said FPD. “Upon further investigation, Officers discovered that the Cessna 172 piloted by Estoque was stolen from the Chino Airport.”
Estoque’s subsequent arrest resulted in charges of Grand Theft, along with Theft of an Aircraft. The aerial-vehicle theft also brought on the feds – the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stepped in to launch an investigation.
Social media lit up regarding the crashed poseur-pilot’s exploits. Comments ranged from “Scary stuff,” and, “I mean, I’m impressed he managed to steal a plane, @fullerton_pd, plenty of carjackers are stymied by just a Manual transmission car. This dude steals a plane? Lol”, to “I can’t believe how easy it was for him to steal that plane I thought they had more secure methods to keep people safe. Imagine if it was a terrorist.?”
Anyone with information regarding the ongoing investigation into this incident is encouraged to contact Sergeant Clyde at (714) 738-6720 or bclyde@fullertonpd.org. Those wishing to provide information anonymously can contact Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS, or by visiting their website at https://occrimestoppers.org.
