The driver of a stolen Cal Fire pickup was taken into custody after a pursuit Friday in northern Santa Barbara County.
The truck had been stolen from Cal Fire’s Monterey Unit, according to Cal Fire-San Luis Obispo spokesman Chris Elms.
The driver attempted to evade Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department deputies and California Highway Patrol officers by changing directions but the pursuit involving the Ford F250 truck ended south of Orcutt.
Just before noon, sheriff’s deputies spotted the stolen vehicle near Augusta Street in Los Alamos and began following the truck while awaiting other law enforcement officers, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said.
When the driver observed the law enforcement officers, he began actively evading them and a pursuit ensued on Highway 135 in Los Alamos, she said.
The suspect drove north toward Orcutt where he made a U-turn on Highway 135 near Clark Avenue and started driving south on Highway 135 toward Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Officers following the distinctive vehicle also had help from above via a Santa Barbara County Air Support Unit helicopter crew.
On Highway 1, near the interchange with Highway 135, the driver attempted another U-turn in a sandy soft-centered median.
“Before he could make it back onto the roadway, deputies used pursuit intervention techniques to successfully stop the vehicle,” Hoover said. “Due to the collaborative efforts of sheriff’s deputies, CHP officers and security forces from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the suspect was arrested at gunpoint and taken into custody without further incident.”
The driver, Donald Schellinger, a 38-year-old transient from Northern California, was arrested on suspicion of felony reckless evading, possession of stolen property, vehicle theft and a parole violation.
The truck also was associated with a subsequent theft in Pismo Beach, Hoover said.
Meanwhile, Cal Fire officials note their vehicles are equipped with satellite-based navigation equipment.
“All of our vehicles have GPS in it so it wasn’t hard it find,” Elms said.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.