TWENTYNINE PALMS MAN ARRESTED AT GUNPOINT FOR STEALING TOW TRUCK

A Twentynine Palms man was arrested at gunpoint early Monday morning, accused of stealing a tow truck. According to a Sheriff’s report, Michael Calvert, 28, used a bolt cutter to break into a tow truck yard in the 7500 block of Baseline Road about 4:30 a.m. and stole a tow truck. A few minutes later, a deputy saw the stolen tow truck being driven southbound on Adobe Road in what he described as “an erratic manner,” and tried to stop the driver. The report states Calvert ran the red light at Highway 62 and Adobe and turned east onto the highway and then pulled in to the parking lot of the 7-11. The tow truck was then blocked in by two Sheriff patrol cars, and the deputies ordered Calvert out of the truck and to lie on the ground at gunpoint. Michael Calvert was handcuffed and arrested for investigation of grand theft auto, booked at the Morongo Basin Jail, and released on $50,000 bail.