Pickup Driver Speeds over Calif. Police Station's Lawn, Rams Cruiser

Officers arrested the driver of a pickup that reportedly sped over the front lawn of the Yuba City Police Department, which led to a vehicle chase that ended after the truck rammed into an occupied police vehicle.

The incident occurred about 7:45 p.m. Friday, when a silver Ford F-150 drove over the Police Department’s front lawn and onto Poole Boulevard at a high rate of speed, Yuba City police announced Tuesday afternoon in a news release.

Officers found the Ford pickup about 10 minutes later in a nearby parking lot in the 1200 block of Stabler Lane. Police said the pickup driver, later identified as 46-year-old David Mattu of Yuba City, immediately reversed the Ford toward an officer’s marked patrol vehicle.

The officer in the patrol vehicle avoided a collision with the Ford pickup, which drove over two planter boxes and headed east on Butte House Road. The officers initiated a pursuit. Police said Mattu refused to stop the pickup, which made a U-turn and headed west on Butte House.

The pickup then stopped abruptly on Butte House, but police said Mattu refused to get out of the vehicle. The officers then placed stop-sticks near the pickup’s wheels to puncture the tires.

Mattu later drove over the stop-sticks and rammed the pickup into an occupied police vehicle while trying to escape, according to the Police Department. The pickup later crashed into a large brick sign, disabling the vehicle.

Police said Mattu refused to get out of the pickup, so officers negotiated with him for about an hour before officers took him into custody. It was then that officers discovered he was suffering from a minor self-inflicted injury, according to the Police Department.

It was unclear whether Mattu got out of the pickup on his own, and the Police Department did not indicate in the news release what type of injury he had.

Mattu was taken to a hospital for medical treatment before he was booked at Sutter County Jail. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, felony vehicle pursuit, vandalism and delaying or obstructing an officer. Police said Mattu remained at the jail Tuesday; his bail amount was set at $100,000.

The officer in the patrol vehicle rammed by the pickup was examined by medical personnel as a precaution and was later released to full duty, according to the Police Department.

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