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Shop NowPolice in Red Bluff, California, have more important things to do than chase down low-life thieves who steal to support their drug induced lifestyle. Underscoring exactly what happens when laws go generally unenforced, 39-year-old Ramon Ruelas pedaled up on his bicycle Thursday morning and boosted “approximately $1,200 worth of equipment” from a truck. Not just any truck. It was a “fire contractor’s vehicle.” The equipment’s being used to fight the still blazing Park Fire. Now the state’s fourth largest ever, the inferno was likewise started by a low-life anarchist.
Police have their man
Police have their suspect in custody as of Friday evening, August 2. A statement from the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office notes the “man accused of stealing tools from a fire contractor’s vehicle near the Park Fire was arrested.”
They credit Sheriff Dave Kain for that. He called the suspect out, in public, Friday afternoon, demanding the frequent flier turn himself in.
Kain told Ramon that they had him on surveillance video riding up to the truck and looting $1,200 worth of equipment from the bed. That wasn’t nice.
#ParkFire 6pm update . 401,199 acres burned so not a huge increase. Containment is at 28% currently . Pray for the safety of these firefighters as well pic.twitter.com/btNqbLH8j4
— Sugarbear weather media (@sugarbearwx) August 4, 2024
Deputies didn’t take long rounding up the stolen equipment but Ruelas wasn’t in his usual hangouts. Sheriff Kain is a practical sort of guy so simply “took a moment during the news briefing to share a message directly with the suspect.” Don’t make police go out and find you.
“Turn yourself in. If you don’t, you’re going to make things harder on yourself, your friends and your family.” That was the part which did the trick. Ramon knows his friends have good reason to avoid scrutiny from the police.
“As we attempt to determine your whereabouts, we will arrest all those in violation of the law and who have warrants. So by the time you get to the jail, there may be people you know there.”
Well known to the cops
Ramon Ruelas is well known to local law enforcement. He’s logged more than 100 contacts with police. “He will be placed in one of our habitual offender beds at the Tehama County Jail,” the sheriff quipped in an update later. “See you soon, Ramon.”
Deciding that he didn’t have much chance of getting out of it, the thief allowed himself to be booked in on grand theft.
Additional details from other sources note that the vehicle belonging to fire personnel was raided while “they were asleep in a hotel.”
Park Fire Near Chico Now 4th Largest in California History https://t.co/C45IHbFvPH pic.twitter.com/QKuRoBgqb0
— Times of San Diego (@TimesofSanDiego) August 4, 2024
Firefighters have been slaving around the clock to get the arson caused fire under containment before more homes go up in flames. They can’t even count all the barbecued livestock. Police are taking this theft personally.
“The victim notified Sheriff Kain and he assigned our personnel to the investigation. Our staff was highly motivated to remedy this for one of the heroes fighting to protect our county!”
“Over the last two days, your Deputies, along with Police Officers from CAL FIRE Tehama-Glenn Unit/ Tehama County Fire Department have been absolutely relentless in their pursuit of this case.” The first thing they did was recover the gear.
