Four-minute joyride in military Humvee costs California man 3 years in prison, feds say

A California man accused of leading police on a wild four-minute chase in a stolen military Humvee will spend 34 months in prison, federal officials say.

The 30-year-old Pomona resident stole the vehicle from a U.S. Army Reserve center in Upland, California, by cutting a padlock with bolt cutters, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release.

Police spotted the man driving the armored vehicle, equipped with a turret, shortly after the Nov. 9, 2020, theft, sparking a high-speed, four-minute chase, prosecutors said.

He “drove on the wrong side of the road, blew through multiple red lights and stop signs, swerved across the road and drove through several narrow alleys,” the release said.

The man finally stopped in front of a home in Pomona and surrendered to police. Prosecutors said he was on parole on a theft and burglary conviction at the time.

He was sentenced Thursday, Dec. 2, after pleading guilty to theft of government property in August, the release said.

This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Four-minute joyride in military Humvee costs California man 3 years in prison, feds say."