A fire department pick-up truck from a Sonoma County Fire District (SCFD) station in Windsor was recovered following a theft that ended in a crash outside of Healdsburg.
According to a statement from the Healdsburg Police Department (HPD), on Thursday, June 3, at about 4:30 p.m., their dispatch received several calls of a fire pick-up truck driving recklessly on Highway 101. One of the callers believed the truck to have been stolen due to the manner in which it was being driven and the behavior of the driver.
According to HPD, the caller reported that that the vehicle had exited Highway 101 and driven onto Lytton Springs Road where it crashed into a tree and the driver fled on foot. Officers soon arrived at the scene of the crash and were told that the driver had run off in the direction of a to a large field leading up to the Highway 101 offramp.
HPD officers located 38-year-old Jesse Denver Bacon, a local transient, hiding near some bushes near the on ramp. He was detained while officers investigated how Bacon came into possession of the fire truck. It was discovered that the truck had recently been stolen from the Sonoma County Fire District Windsor station.
According to the statement from HPD, the SCFD was unaware of the theft until they were told the vehicle had been recovered.
While officers were detaining Bacon, he began to drift out of consciousness and became less responsive. Due to the belief that he had consumed an opioid narcotic, he was administered a dose of Narcan and became more responsive. Bacon was able to walk to a waiting ambulance. He was transported to Sutter Hospital via ambulance, and was later cited to appear.
The stolen fire truck received major damage to its driver’s side quarter panel as a result of the collision.
