Car crook tries to hide at police station

VICTORVILLE • Sgt. James Evans still has a hard time believing he wasn’t part of some elaborate practical joke, after helping to catch a stolen-vehicle suspect as he tried to hide inside the Victorville sheriff’s station.

“They’re arresting themselves now,” Evans said with a laugh, as he recounted the story.

The scene actually started with a separate incident earlier Friday morning.

It took deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff Department’s Victorville station less than an hour to track down and arrest robbery suspect Michael Richardson, a 32-year-old parolee from Victorville.

Richardson used a car he stole from his parents as the get-away vehicle for a strong arm robbery he pulled shortly after 10:30 a.m. at the Rite Aid on Bear Valley Road in Victorville.

Richardson was booked at Victor Valley Jail on charges of possession of stolen property, strong arm robbery and parole violation.

As deputies who helped in the search for Richardson returned to the Victorville station, Deputy Floyd Stone saw a suspicious Honda and ran its license plate. The plate came back to another stolen vehicle.

The driver of the stolen car quickly turned into the parking lot at Rusty’s Café and Stone saw two males jump out and run through the restaurant into the parking lot of the next business — which just happened to be the Victorville sheriff’s station.

As Stone started to radio in the call, Evans was sitting at the stop sign nearby.

“I saw two guys running up Amargosa toward the station,” Evans said. “I thought, ‘Oh man, those guys look like they’re in trouble,’” as they rattled the station’s doors, which were locked for the Fourth of July holiday.

As he started to pull toward the men to help he heard Stone call in a location for the suspects he was chasing — and he realized that he was staring right at them.

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Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.