Crime Blotter June 30-July 4: Middle School Vandals Lead Dangerous Pursuit

Near misses

Two teenagers are in custody after they were caught doing donuts in a middle school field and led sheriff’s deputies on a dangerous chase through Carmichael early Sunday morning.

Sacramento County sheriff’s officers spotted two trucks tearing through grassy chunks of the play field at in Carmichael around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. One of the officers cast his spotlight on the trucks and commanded the drivers to approach his vehicle using a public address microphone, said department spokesman Dep. Jason Ramos.

Instead, the drivers responded to these demands by fleeing, disappearing behind a school building where one of the trucks was able to escape. Officers caught up to the second vehicle, an elevated black Ford pickup truck, which left the school campus heading south on Barrett Road and cut a circuitous route down several streets at speeds reaching 40 mph, Ramos said.

On two occasions, the driver of the truck nearly collided with the pursuing deputies and showed no regard for the safety of other motorists during the attempted escape, said a sheriff’s department summary report of the incident.

At one point, the report asserts, the driver of the truck, later identified as Jesse McGill, 19, of Rio Linda, deliberately attempted to cause a collision with officers by unexpectedly stopping in the middle of the street.

The chase continued west down Fair Oaks Boulevard to Manzanita Avenue and then north to Madison Avenue and the parking lot of a , where officers were able to perform what’s called a pursuit intervention technique with their patrol vehicle, Ramos said. This caused the truck to spin out and roll over, at which point its two occupants were taken into custody without further incident.

Also arrested was passenger Justin Brown, 19, of Orangevale.

The second truck and its driver was not located.

As of Wednesday, McGill and Brown had yet to be arraigned on multiple charges, including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, vandalism and conspiring to commit a crime.

Small world

A 53-year-old man was arrested by the same deputy who responded to his residence two days earlier Saturday evening.

The sheriff’s deputy recognized Kurtis Witham, 53, as the man whose home he visited June 30 to investigate a report of a fight between two men taking place outside the residence.

While no one was arrested that day, the officer pulled Witham’s vehicle over around 6:30 p.m. July 2 for a vehicle code violation at Kiekebusch Court and Hollister Avenue in Carmichael, an incident report from the department stated.

During the stop, the officer conducted a parole search of Witham, finding an off-white crystal-like substance later determined to be methamphetamine, as well as a scale.

A probation search was then done at Witham’s home, where officers found cash, a money-counter and indicia, the report said.

Witham was booked into Sacramento County jail on drug and parole violation charges.