Hemet officer injured subduing man after pursuit, crash, attempted carjacking

HEMET – A transient from the Hemet area led Hemet Police officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen truck before smashing into a car and attempting to carjack another motorist, Tuesday, June 14. During the attempted carjacking, a Hemet Police officer who was trying to stop the suspect was injured and required hospitalization. The officer was not identified and the nature of his injuries were not specified.

After being successfully detained, Jeremiah Louis Brenner, 38, a transient resident of Hemet, was arrested and later booked for 19 felony and three misdemeanor charges.

The incident began just before 2:30 p.m. when a Hemet Police officer conducting patrol in the 3100 block of W. Florida Avenue spotted a white Ford truck being driven in the area. The officer recognized the truck matched the description of a vehicle that had just been reported stolen.

As the officer approached the truck in his patrol vehicle, the driver, who was later identified as Brenner, pulled into the parking lot of restaurant in the area and the officer pulled in behind it. As the officer was checking the license plate to verify if it was the truck that had been reported stolen, Brenner sped away at a high rate of speed.

The officer initiated a pursuit as the truck sped northbound on Sanderson Avenue. During the pursuit, Brenner drove in an extremely reckless manner, without regard for the safety of other citizens or pursuing officers. As he fled, Brenner reached speeds close to 90 miles per hour and drove on the wrong side of the road, into oncoming lanes of traffic.

When the truck approached Ramona Boulevard in San Jacinto, Brenner attempted to turn right, heading eastbound. However; because the truck was traveling so fast, the truck smashed into another vehicle before it lost control and ended up in a ditch along the side of the roadway.

Brenner immediately jumped out of the stolen truck and fled on foot through the field towards Ramona Expressway. Officers chased him on foot through the field, but before they could catch him he attempted to carjack a vehicle and attacked the stunned driver.

Hemet officers, along with assistance from an off-duty officer, pulled Brenner out of the vehicle as he was still actively assaulting the driver of the vehicle he was attempting to carjack.

Jeremiah Brenner was arrested after a danger high-speed pursuit in a stolen truck. He also attempted carjacking a motorist after he crashed the stolen truck into another vehicle.

Brenner fought with the officers and had to be physically restrained. Both Brenner and a Hemet Police officer were injured during the violent confrontation. The officer who was injured was not identified.

Paramedics treated Brenner and the officer before they were both transported to a local hospital for further treatment.

During their investigation officers positively identified Brenner as the driver from another pursuit that occurred May of this year. During that pursuit, Brenner successfully eluded officers and was not apprehended at the time.

After Brenner was medically cleared he was arrested and booked at the Southwest Detention Center

A jail records search revealed Brenner was booked on suspicion of recklessly evading, recklessly evading resulting in serious injuries, recklessly evading while driving on the wrong side of the road, attempted carjacking, violently resisting arrest, eight counts of prior prison enhancements, charges related to four different out of county warrants, and other charges, including one count of felony evasion for the May pursuit.

Brenner is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned at an unspecified court on June 27.

 

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