A California burglary suspect led deputies on a pursuit in a stolen pickup before crashing into a drainage canal and trying to hide inside a nearby culvert.
The Sutter County Sheriff’s Office said on Sept. 27 that deputies received a report around 2:30 a.m. of a burglary at a property in the 14800 block of Highway 99, just north of Nicolaus.
Deputies responded, and the reporting party said someone entered a shop on the property and stole six chainsaws, three weed eaters, three water pumps, a pressure washer, and a Craftsman toolbox.
The sheriff’s office also said a silver 2022 GMC Sierra was stolen from inside the shop.
Stolen Truck Doesn’t Get Far
The reporting party also told deputies that he saw his GMC Sierra leaving the property. He then checked the shop, discovered the stolen equipment, and called law enforcement.
A BOLO was promptly issued to agencies in the area. About 40 minutes later, Yolo County Sheriff’s deputies spotted the GMC Sierra near Knights Landing.
The Sutter County Sheriff’s Office said Yolo deputies tried to stop the stolen truck, but the suspect did not stop and fled north on Highway 113 back into Sutter County.
The pursuit continued for roughly 15 minutes through back roads before the truck crashed into a large, water-filled drainage canal on Seymour Road west of Armour Road.
The GMC was abandoned, but the driver didn’t make it too far.
A Weird Place To Hide
Sutter County deputies, along with the California Highway Patrol and Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, searched the surrounding rice fields for the suspect.
Deputies found a large culvert about 100 yards from the abandoned GMC Sierra and noticed disturbed vegetation around it.
That was enough for deputies to bring in K9 Phoenix.
Phoenix was deployed to check the culvert, and deputies gave announcements ordering anyone inside to come out. The suspect eventually responded from inside the culvert before crawling out and being taken into custody without further incident.
Felony Citations
The Sutter County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as 40-year-old Brian Freeland of Rancho Cordova.
The sheriff’s office said Freeland is currently on Sacramento County Post Release Community Supervision for firearms-related charges.
Freeland was transported by Bi-County Ambulance to Rideout for medical evaluation, where he remained as of the sheriff’s office’s release. His injuries were not specified.
The sheriff’s office said that because of the nature of his injuries, Freeland was issued felony citations for burglary, evading police, driving in excess of 100 mph, hit and run, obstruction and resisting, reckless driving, and taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.
An attempt to locate Freeland’s booking information was unsuccessful. As of publication, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office had not provided an additional update on his condition, custody status, or court dates.
The sheriff’s office went on to thank the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol for assisting during the incident.
Freeland is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.