Dakota Valkyrie
February 17th, 2009, 09:50 AM
Two days after a man backed a truck into a sheriff's patrol car, landed the truck in a ditch and fled nude on a country road, the suspect turned himself in to authorities.
John Michael Ferraris, 24, was arrested by Glenn County sheriff's deputies, and faces an assault charge for his actions toward the officer. He may also be charged in connection with a juvenile girl who was found in the truck after he ran.
While patrolling outside of Willows at around 11:15 Saturday night, Sgt. Todd James noticed a pickup parked against a locked gate at Knights Ponds, an area known locally as "the gravel pits."
After positioning his car behind the truck to prevent its escape, James shined a spotlight on the pickup and saw a naked man jump from the rear seat area to the driver's seat. James then saw the truck's backup lights and the suspect looking over his right shoulder at the officer.
At that point, Ferraris hit the accelerator hard and backed at high speed toward James's patrol car. The suspect kept driving in reverse with the truck "in full throttle" and its tires throwing gravel. It eventually went up a ditch bank and landed in the empty ditch.
Ferraris ran away on foot in the cold and rain, leaving a 17-year-old girl in the rear seat of the truck. The girl was clothed and didn't require medical attention. The girl was interviewed at the scene and eventually released to her mother.
Ferraris was identified by a driver's license in a wallet James found while searching the truck. A search for Ferraris ensued. A CHP helicopter equipped with infrared, heat-sensing equipment tried locating the suspect to no avail.
The next night, sheriff's dispatchers took a call from a couple who reported finding a nude man in their garage early Sunday morning.
The resident, Frank Couto, had gone into the garage around 6:30 or 7 a.m. when he discovered a man on the floor wrapped in a dog blanket. The man also had on a jacket allegedly taken out of Couto's truck, but no other clothes.
The couple told deputies the man said he'd hidden in a tree until about 1 a.m., when he went into the garage. He also allegedly told the couple he'd been at the gravel pits with a girl, and that he'd just gotten out of trouble and thought he should turn himself in.
The Coutos gave the man a cup of coffee, a shirt, jeans and shoes, and a ride to an apartment complex in Willows.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, Ferraris contacted a district attorney's investigator, who then called the Sheriff's Office. Deputies arrested Ferraris and booked him into Glenn County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury on a peace officer, and willful cruelty to a child that could produce injury or death.
Ferraris' bail is set at $100,000.http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11719450
John Michael Ferraris, 24, was arrested by Glenn County sheriff's deputies, and faces an assault charge for his actions toward the officer. He may also be charged in connection with a juvenile girl who was found in the truck after he ran.
While patrolling outside of Willows at around 11:15 Saturday night, Sgt. Todd James noticed a pickup parked against a locked gate at Knights Ponds, an area known locally as "the gravel pits."
After positioning his car behind the truck to prevent its escape, James shined a spotlight on the pickup and saw a naked man jump from the rear seat area to the driver's seat. James then saw the truck's backup lights and the suspect looking over his right shoulder at the officer.
At that point, Ferraris hit the accelerator hard and backed at high speed toward James's patrol car. The suspect kept driving in reverse with the truck "in full throttle" and its tires throwing gravel. It eventually went up a ditch bank and landed in the empty ditch.
Ferraris ran away on foot in the cold and rain, leaving a 17-year-old girl in the rear seat of the truck. The girl was clothed and didn't require medical attention. The girl was interviewed at the scene and eventually released to her mother.
Ferraris was identified by a driver's license in a wallet James found while searching the truck. A search for Ferraris ensued. A CHP helicopter equipped with infrared, heat-sensing equipment tried locating the suspect to no avail.
The next night, sheriff's dispatchers took a call from a couple who reported finding a nude man in their garage early Sunday morning.
The resident, Frank Couto, had gone into the garage around 6:30 or 7 a.m. when he discovered a man on the floor wrapped in a dog blanket. The man also had on a jacket allegedly taken out of Couto's truck, but no other clothes.
The couple told deputies the man said he'd hidden in a tree until about 1 a.m., when he went into the garage. He also allegedly told the couple he'd been at the gravel pits with a girl, and that he'd just gotten out of trouble and thought he should turn himself in.
The Coutos gave the man a cup of coffee, a shirt, jeans and shoes, and a ride to an apartment complex in Willows.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, Ferraris contacted a district attorney's investigator, who then called the Sheriff's Office. Deputies arrested Ferraris and booked him into Glenn County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon likely to produce great bodily injury on a peace officer, and willful cruelty to a child that could produce injury or death.
Ferraris' bail is set at $100,000.http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11719450