CORONA: RPD’s Air1 assists in reckless driving arrest

CORONA — Riverside PD’s Air Support Unit assisted with the arrest last night of a man they watched driving recklessly and doing “donuts” in the middle of a busy intersection while others held back traffic and filmed the man’s antics.

The dangerous would-be stunt car driver was apprehended after trying to leave the area, when officers in Riverside PD’s “Air1” led ground officers to the man’s location as he hid in a residential neighborhood.

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Corona PD was dispatched to the area of Hidden Valley Parkway and Garland Way after receiving “numerous” calls from motorists reporting that subjects were blocking the intersection, while vehicles were doing “donuts” and performing other dangerous stunts in the middle of the intersection.

A man was arrested and his BMW was towed after RPD’s Air Support Unit filmed him performing donuts in the middle of a busy Corona intersection. RPD Air Support Unit photo

911 callers described a chaotic scene, telling emergency dispatchers that people were out of their cars and running through the intersection and that traffic was being held back and blocked.

Air1 aviation members responded to the area to assist, arriving just before patrol officers.

As they arrived overhead, aviation members spotted a BMW convertible in the middle of the intersection performing donuts.

As officers on the ground converged on the area, Air1 reported that several other individuals were “filming him and running around in the middle of the intersection,” aviation members later explained in a social media release.

“Unfortunately for this aspiring stunt driver, we were also filming him.”

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Corona police officers move in to arrest a reckless driver minutes after he was filmed by officers doing “donuts” in an intersection. RPD Air Support Unit photo

When Corona PD officers arrived in the area the crowd began to disperse, with people driving off in every direction.

“Our wayward young driver did his best to nonchalantly leave the area,” Air Support Unit members explained. As Air1 circled overhead its officers watched the driver of the BMW drive into a nearby residential neighborhood about a half-mile away, where he parked in the area of Costa Bravo Cir. and Via Blairo.

“We directed officers to his location, where he was arrested for reckless driving and his car was impounded,” aviation unit members explained.

Corona PD has not yet released any information regarding this incident and arrest.

 

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 – soon to be 16 – grandchildren.