CHP officer injured after rammed by stolen big rig during Red Bluff high-speed pursuit

November 14, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

RED BLUFF, Calif., — A CHP officer was injured when his vehicle was rammed by a stolen big rig during a high-speed pursuit Friday morning, Nov. 12. The officer reportedly suffered minor injuries and is expected to survive.

The driver who rammed the officer’s vehicle was arrested at the end of the dangerous chase and now stands accused of stealing a big rig from a Red Bluff trucking company and ramming it into the CHP cruiser – causing major damage to the officer’s vehicle. He then reportedly abandoned the stolen rig and stole a second vehicle, leading officers on a second high-speed chase before crashing on Interstate 5, near Flores Avenue, south of Red Bluff.

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Although details of Friday’s incident and arrest are still emerging, SCNS has learned that the big rig was stolen from Ben’s Truck and Equipment, located at 2060 Montgomery Road in Red Bluff.

The vehicle theft came to light after someone reported a hit and run accident involving the stolen big rig on Walnut Street.

A Ben’s Truck and Equipment representative has since said the company often deals with their trucks being stolen and was not aware of the theft until the hit and run was reported.

A CHP cruiser and pickup truck sustained major damage as a result of Friday’s dangerous pursuit. Kelli Saam/Action News photos

A short time later, a CHP officer located the stolen semi and began chasing it after the driver failed to yield to an attempted traffic stop. At one point during that initial pursuit, the driver of the stolen rig suddenly reversed and backed into the officer’s patrol vehicle, causing major front-end damage to the SUV and rendering it inoperable. It was not immediately clear if the officer was inside the SUV, or standing near it when the injury collision occurred.

After driving into a ditch and briefly becoming stuck, the man then drove into a nearby neighborhood where he abandoned the big rig on Peach Street. He then reportedly stole a white pickup truck and fled from officers once again. That second pursuit continued onto I-5 before coming to a climactic end when he was involved in another crash near Flores Avenue. No details about that crash were immediately available.

Video filmed by shocked witnesses as they drove past the scene of the man’s apprehension, (which was later obtained by Action News and can be viewed here), appeared to show numerous officials and a police K-9 taking the still resisting man into custody.

Speaking to Action News after the CHP officer’s vehicle was rammed, witness Ryan Figueroa said he and his family saw the big rig back into the officer’s SUV just outside their home. He also said he ran to the aid of the injured officer and remained at his side until paramedics arrived and began treating him for his unspecified injuries.

“It just came to me that I just needed to check up on him, make sure he was ok cause it was really bad,” Figueroa explained. “It was just, it was another person’s life at stake, and if I could help in any way that’s what I wanted to do. Just make sure he’s fine at the minimum.”

“We could’ve been one of his next victims, he could’ve hit us,” Figueroa said; adding that he and his family were about to leave their property when the big rig stopped in the roadway outside their gate just before reversing and ramming into the officer’s vehicle.

“It’s something we probably won’t forget,” the good Samaritan continued; calling the incident “a reminder to be thankful that we made it out and we’re ok.”

The stolen big rig, which sustained minor damage as a result of the multiple collisions and from being broken into, was later returned to Ben’s Truck and Equipment. Kelli Saam/Action News photo

It was not immediately clear if the suspect was booked into Tehama County Jail on charges related to the violent incident, but a check this morning of current and in custody Tehama County Jail inmates did not yield any names with similar charges.

CHP has not released any details or information regarding this incident and calls to CHP went unanswered on Sunday.

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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

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 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.