New details have been released about a bizarre chase, and standoff on the Central Coast which involved a military big rig. The gigantic truck involved in the chase was a $500,000 transport vehicle used to tow tanks. It was stolen while in transit from the manufacturer to the military.
The vehicle was spotted parked in Los Osos yesterday afternoon. When San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputies approached, a man drove away in the big rig, crashing through a gate at Montana de Oro State Park. He stopped in a parking lot at Sandspit Beach.
The driver refused to surrender. After a more than four hour standoff, a SWAT team fired tear gas into the truck. Patrick Kevin Van Ness of Los Angeles then surrendered.
The 63-year-old man was arrested on charges of destruction of public property, felony evasion, and the theft of the vehicle.
