Most of us have the impression that the scriptwriters of the ‘Fast & Furious’ saga have gotten out of hand, but sometimes reality surpasses fiction. This is what happened a few days ago in a quiet town in CaliforniaUSA.
The authorities had to go to great lengths to stop a huge military truck that had been stolen and the only thing that ended up stopping it was the sand on the beach. The thief who was driving it was not Dominic Toretto, but a 63-year-old man who is now facing several crimes.
Destroys public property and ends up stuck on the beach
It’s hard to believe that certain things happen, but they do happen. A few days ago, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Officea California city of less than 50,000 inhabitants located between San Francisco and Los Angeles, in the United States, received a call in which someone alerted that they had seen a suspicious vehiclespecifically a truck that looks like a military vehicle.
Quickly, a patrol that was in the area went to the place of the notice and, indeed, what they found was a military truck, specifically a huge one. Oshkosh M1070 of the US Army that is used to transport extremely heavy loads, such as the M1A2 Abrams tank which weighs only 68 tons.
It is still unknown how, but a random man managed to steal it while it was being transported to a military base in Southern California where it was to be launched. When the officers who received the notice arrived, the thief saw them and decided to flee, leading to a persecution which could well have been a movie scene.
Image | San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office Facebook.
The driver fled through Montaña de Oro State Park, smashed through a barrier with the truck and ended up in an area known as Sandspit Beach. At that time, several local police, state police and even the federal agents service vehicles were chasing him, but none of them were able to stop him.
What finally stopped this driver was the sand on the beach. A truck weighing over 18 tons is not the best choice for driving on this terrain, so he ended up getting stuck in front of all the authorities who were chasing him. However, he locked himself in the truck and there was no way to get him out of the cab, until the Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Detachment arrived and managed to pull him out. tear gas inside the truck.
Image | San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office Facebook.
This is how the chase ended because the driver had no choice but to get out of the truck. He was immediately arrested and identified as Patrick Kevin Van Ess, 63 years old and citizen of Los Angeles.
The motive for stealing the truck has not yet been released, but he is charged with vehicle theft, evading authorities and destruction of public property. In California, the latter two crimes are felonies, while stealing a vehicle can range from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on the judge.
The investigation is ongoing and the truck, which was brand new before Patrick stole it, has finally ended up at the military base it was headed to. According to the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page, this Oshkosh M1070 is valued at more than half a million dollars.
If it costs more than a Ferrari 12 Cilindri it is because it is one of the most beastly trucks in existence, so it is not surprising that the authorities of San Luis Obispo were unable to stop the stolen unit. What is surprising is that any man could steal it.
The Oshkosh is one of the favorite military trucks of the United States, but also of the armies of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Morocco, which also uses M1 Abrams tanks and turns to the Oshkosh M1070 to transport them.
This military truck is a tractor head with 8×8 traction and a 12.06 liter Detroit Diesel 8V-92TA engine that develops 500 HP, enough to towing up to 70 tonsIts manufacturer, Oshkosh Corporation, offers it in various configurations, and if the Detroit Diesel engine falls short, the M1070 can use an 18.01-liter Caterpillar C18 diesel engine that produces 700 hp.
As it is giant, it does not run too fast and reaches 81 km/h in the best case, but, thanks to a 947 litre fuel tankoffers 724 km of autonomy, so the California authorities must thank the sand on the beach because the chase could have lasted much longer.
Image | WikipediaU.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Behlin
Source: www.motorpasion.com
