U-Haul Driver Arrested After Standoff In Pleasant Hill: Police

PLEASANT HILL, CA — The police activity that prompted Pleasant Hill police to advise the public to stay away from the Crossroads Shopping Center and Monument Boulevard area was an alleged standoff with the driver of a U-Haul, Patch was learned.

The driver of the rental truck allegedly struck a Walnut Creek police car with the U-Haul, narrowly avoiding a police officer, at about 2:57 a.m. Tuesday before leading police on a chase to the 2300 block of Buskirk Avenue, which is at the shopping center in Pleasant Hill.

Walnut Creek police Lt. Andy Brown said in a news release that the suspect, 46-year-old Francisco Lima, was driving recklessly as he hit the Walnut Creek patrol car which was parked in the 1800 block of Lacassie Avenue.

"A nearby officer on foot had to quickly move away from the patrol vehicle to avoid being struck by the rental truck," Brown said.

The incident prompted Walnut Creek officers to follow the U-Haul as Lima allegedly recklessly drove north, stopping when he reached the 2300 block of Buskirk Avenue in Pleasant Hill.

What followed was an approximately three-hour standoff in which Lima allegedly refused to exit the U-Haul and did not obey officers' commands, Brown said.

Eventually, at 8:06 a.m., Lima agreed to get out of the U-Haul and was taken into custody by officers with Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill police departments without further incident, the lieutenant said.

Lima was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of attempted murder with a deadly weapon — the U-Haul truck — and driving recklessly while evading an officer, Brown said.

Pleasant Hill police sent out an advisory at 7:41 a.m. Tuesday about the police activity, cautioning the public to stay away from Monument Boulevard/Crossroads Shopping Center, just east of Interstate Highway 680.

At 9:49 a.m., Pleasant Hill police said in an updated advisory that "police activity has ended in this area."

Mugshot courtesy Walnut Creek Police Department