A Los Angeles man was arrested for allegedly stealing this military truck, fleeing from Sheriff’s deputies and crashing it onto the beach in Montaña de Oro State Park. Submitted photo
A suspicious vehicle report led to a slow-speed chase into a State Park and ended on the Sandspit with the arrest of a Los Angeles man for allegedly stealing the specialized Army semi.
But where and how was the truck stolen, and was the Army, which was believed to be expecting delivery of it, even missing it?
The strange case started at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, July 31, in a parking lot in Los Osos.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla said in a news release, “The Sheriff’s Office received a report of a suspicious vehicle that was in a parking lot off Los Osos Valley Road in Los Osos. The vehicle was described as the front portion or ‘cab’ of a military style tractor-trailer.”
When deputies arrived, the driver of the truck took off heading west on LOVR, which everyone knows is a dead end. “The driver of the vehicle,” Cipolla said, “fled to Montaña de Oro State Park, breaking through a gate, and ending up in the area known as Sandspit Beach. Deputies, [Morro Bay] Harbor Patrol, Coast Guard and State Park Rangers, were able to set up a perimeter around the truck.”
The driver refused to leave the truck and the Special Enforcement Detail, the Sheriff’s SWAT squad, took over when they arrived. When he refused again to exit the truck, the SED team “introduced tear gas” into the cab and he gave up quickly. By 7:45 p.m. he’d been arrested and the incident was over, except for a very large truck being stuck on the beach.
The man, later identified as Patrick Kevin Vanness, 63, was charged with felony evasion and destruction of public property, though a grand theft auto charge is in his future, as the truck was a specialty vehicle made for the U.S. Army and specifically designed to haul around tanks. And it had a Pentagon-sized sticker price, too.
“Sheriff’s detectives,” Cipolla said, “have confirmed that the vehicle involved in yesterday’s pursuit in Los Osos is a M1070 Heavy Equipment Transport vehicle designed for the U.S. military.
“The vehicle was manufactured earlier this year. It was stolen in transit before it was delivered to the military in Southern California.”
Manufactured by Oshkosh Corp., of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the M1070 Transport vehicle is specifically used to transport the M1 Abrams tank, Cipolla said. It costs $500,000 and they are special ordered.
Estero Bay News contacted Oshkosh via email asking if they were missing a half-million dollar truck? A representative deferred all questions back to police, calling it a law enforcement matter now.
Cipolla was asked how someone managed to steal such a huge vehicle, and whether it was being hauled on a trailer or driven for delivery? Or was it taken from an Army base here? Camp SLO has a truck driving school and there are Abrams tanks at Camp Roberts.
“It was not stolen in SLO County,” Cipolla said. “We were in contact with the U.S. Army all yesterday morning trying to determine where it was stolen. As we mentioned in the press release, we believe the truck was stolen in transit when the company that makes the truck (based in Wisconsin) was having it delivered to a military facility in Southern California.”
In any event, they had a heck of a time getting it off the beach. “The vehicle,” Cipolla said, “was removed from the beach at Montaña de Oro after it became stuck in the sand several times due to its weight and size.
“The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank California State Parks and the California Army National Guard for their assistance recovering the vehicle.”
Though the exact circumstances surrounding the truck’s theft were not released, it was not believed to have been hauling an Abrams tank around at the time. That no doubt would have garnered a greater level of concern from Uncle Sam.
