Sheriff’s Office: Vehicle in chase that ended on SLO County beach was stolen military transport
The vehicle involved in a chase and then brief standoff with law enforcement at a San Luis Obispo County beach on Wednesday night was actually a stolen military transport truck, the Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday.
According to a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office news release Thursday afternoon, the department first received a report of a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot off Los Osos Valley Road in Los Osos on Wednesday.
The vehicle was described as the front portion of a military style tractor-trailer, the release said.
When deputies arrived, the driver of the vehicle — now identified as Patrick Kevin VanNess, 63 of Los Angeles — fled to Montana de Oro State Park, breaking through a gate and ending up in the sand spit beach area where the vehicle got stuck in the sand, according to the release.
Eventually law enforcement agencies, including the Morro Bay Police Department, Morro Bay Harbor Patrol, California State Park rangers and the Coast Guard, set up a perimeter around the truck as SLO County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted to make contact with VanNess.
He refused commands to leave the truck, but eventually exited the vehicle after tear gas was deployed into it. He was then taken into custody.
On Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said detectives confirmed the vehicle involved was a stolen M1070 Heavy Equipment Transport vehicle designed for the United States military. It is specifically used to transport the M1 Abrams tank, according to the release.
The Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle was manufactured earlier this year, but was stolen in transit before being delivered to the military in Southern California.
According to the release, VanNess will be charged with theft of the vehicle, which is valued at over $500,000.
As of Thursday evening, VanNess was still in custody at the San Luis Obispo County Jail, with bail set at $80,000, according to the Sheriff’s Office’s Who’s in Custody website.
The vehicle was removed from the beach at Montana de Oro earlier in the day Thursday.
“The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank California State Parks and the California Army National Guard for their assistance recovering the vehicle,” the release said.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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