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 that edged along Fair Oaks early Sunday morning.

Sacramento County sheriff’s officers spotted two trucks tearing through grassy chunks of the play field at Barrett Middle School 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 Deputy 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 into the parking lot of a Home Depot, 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.

Dropped call

An incomplete 911 call brought sheriff’s deputies to the Fair Oaks home of a man they busted for drug possession early Sunday morning.

The 911 call came from the Minnesota Avenue residence of Donald Rowe, 20. Deputies made contact with Rowe shortly after midnight Sunday, Ramos said.

An incident report from the department said an off-white crystal-like substance later determined to be methamphetamine was found on the 20-year-old Fair Oaks man during a probation search.

According to online court data, Rowe had yet to be arraigned on possession and probation violation charges as of Wednesday.