A Fontana man was arrested after a carjacking spree involving a U.S. Postal Truck and a Sheriff’s vehicle ended in the open desert.
On Tuesday (May 24) at approximately 1:20 p.m., San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies received a report that a postal truck had been stolen near the 58000 block of Bonanza Blvd in Yucca Valley. While investigating the incident, the suspect, identified by Deputies as Luis Lugo, a 23 year-old resident of Fontana, was said to have abandoned the postal truck on Paxton Rd in Yucca Valley, where he quickly stole another truck with a trailer carrying an off-road vehicle at approximately 1:37 p.m.
A witness told deputies that the postal truck was left running and in drive on Paxton Road, and that she got into the vehicle and pulled the emergency brake to stop it from continuing along the road. An investigator from the U.S. Postal Service arrived to collect evidence and recover the vehicle.
Deputies tracked the stolen truck, which was traveling eastbound on Twentynine Palms Highway. Near La Contenta Road, at which point they say they attempted a traffic stop and a pursuit ensued. The stolen truck and trailer continued eastbound on Twentynine Palms Hwy (SR62) driving at high speeds in an erratic and evasive manner. The stolen vehicle became disabled in the desert near Golden Street in Joshua Tree.
Deputies report that Lugo exited the vehicle with cloth wrapped around his hand and charged at deputies with his hand pointed towards them. Deputies say that Lugo entered a Sheriff’s patrol car by threat of force and rammed the patrol car into a second patrol car. Deputies were able to subdue Lugo without lethal force, and he was taken into custody after he physically resisted arrest.
Luis Lugo was arrested for investigation into multiple counts of carjacking, including grand theft and failure to yield, and booked into West Valley Detention Center on $100,000
