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Robert Haydon: Z107.7 News Director Jef Harmatz was invited by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office to participate in a ride-along with Deputies from the Morongo Basin Station. This practice is used to give citizens an insight into the activities of Deputies as they respond to calls throughout their community on an ordinary day. However, Tuesday, May 24, turned out to be anything but ordinary, as he participated first hand in the investigation of a stolen Postal Truck, part of a carjacking spree that ended in the open desert.
Jef Harmatz: On the invite of Sgt. John Scalise, I arrived at the Morongo Basin Station in Joshua Tree at noon. I was introduced to Deputy Adam Renteria, who took me on patrol in a marked Sheriff’s SUV.
For our first activity, Deputy Renteria’s partner, Deputy Dennis, was investigating a burglary in Yucca Valley. Blood evidence was left on a broken window at the facility, and Deputy Dennis was short DNA testing kits, so Deputy Renteria and I set off to deliver them.
During our journey, the vehicle’s radio broadcast a string emergency calls, some major, some minor. Deputy Renteria explained that not every call was urgent enough for an immediate response, for example, a report of a rattlesnake on a residential porch, but that if a situation escalated, say, if that rattlesnake bit a person, Deputies would be more prepared.
Robert: The next hour was a relatively quiet patrol through Yucca Valley, until a series of calls came through the radio just after 1:15PM
Jef: Reports of a possibly armed man came through, then another, and then we received a report that a U.S. Postal truck had been hijacked nearby on Bonanza Road. We immediately responded, coordinating with other Deputies in the area to locate the postal truck, which was on the move. I kept my eyes peeled for the postal truck, trying to be helpful.
He explained that, rather than trying to catch up with the stolen vehicle, it would be more effective to get ahead of hit based on its trajectory. Deputy Renteria turned on the siren and accelerated on Alta Loma Ave in Joshua Tree. He made several short stops and sharp turnarounds as new information came across the radio, and The Deputy told me later that he could see I was terrified by the high speeds.
Robert: Sheriff’s Deputies engaged in the pursuit of the suspect along 29 palms highway and north through Joshua Tree. He was later identified as Luis Lugo a 23 year-old from Fontana.
Unable to catch up with the pursuit, Deputy Renteria’s attention turned back to the Postal vehicle which was still running and abandoned in the eastbound lane of Paxton Road.
Jef: We arrived at 1:53 p.m. just after Detective Steve Kuskowski, and assisted in interviewing one of the victims and two witnesses. One witness saw that the postal truck was still moving, and reported that she had jumped in and pulled the emergency break.
Deputy Renteria removed key evidence at the crime scene and took several photographs. An investigator from the U.S. Postal service arrived to conduct his own investigation and recover the postal truck, which had been moved out of direct traffic.
During this investigation, which lasted about an hour, reports came in through the radio regarding the unfolding events of the pursuit.
Robert: The pursuit of the stolen truck ended in Joshua Tree when it got stuck in sand. Deputies report that Lugo entered a Sheriff’s patrol car by threat of force and rammed it into a second patrol car. Deputies were able to subdue Lugo and he was taken into custody after he physically resisted arrest.
Jef: One of the deputies involved in the arrest of the suspect in the desert was Deputy Dennis who I had met earlier at the burglary.
Deputy Renteria and I handled one final call, a potentially violent incident at a mental health facility, before all Deputies involved in the lengthy pursuit were asked to return to the station for a debriefing. I was informed that this was a particularly unusual ride-along, and invited to return for another on a more typical day.
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 Thanks again to the Morongo Basin Station for inviting our news team to participate in this ride along.
