Police: Chilly Mokelumne foils escape attempt
Pursuit of vehicle theft suspects ends in rescue from frigid river near Lodi
Three suspects in a stolen vehicle who Lodi Police pursued on Thursday evening were arrested after they had to be rescued from the Mokelumne River east of Lodi.
Officers located a 2006 Black GMC Envoy with paper dealership plates matching the description of a stolen vehicle at 9:15 p.m. near Cherokee Lane and Pine Street, according to Lodi Police Lt. Mike Kermgard. That vehicle was reported stolen on Dec. 16 in a residential burglary on the 300 block of North School Street, Kermgard said.
The driver of the vehicle fled when officers approached, initiating a pursuit that lasted only a few minutes, heading east down Highway 12.
The vehicle led police on a chase down Cherry Road in Victor to a private dirt road on Bunie Lane near the Mokelumne River, according to police.
When the vehicle became stuck along the bank of the Mokelumne River, the occupants of the vehicle opted to jump into the river to make their escape.
However, that escape did not go as planned when two of the suspects needed an immediate rescue due to the extremely cold temperature of the river, police said.
Officer Daniel Bristow climbed part of the way down an embankment to pull out one of the suspects, 28-year-old Bryan Susich, police said.
The other suspect, 22-year-old Nicholas Lang, was also pulled from the river and apprehended, police said.
The third suspect remained at large for two hours while law enforcement officers from several agencies searched the waters.
A CHP helicopter, the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office and the Mokelumne Rural Fire District’s boat rescue team were called in to assist with the search.
From the helicopter, law enforcement located a faint heat signature in the water, where Officer Nathan Woods and the
Mokelumne boat rescue team found the suspect, 33-year-old Samuel Meza clutching a tree along the river bank while partially submerged in the cold river water. He was too cold to pull himself up out of the water and was too far from the bank to be pulled up that way, police said.
Woods was able to pull Meza from the water into the safety of a rescue boat. Meza was taken to a hospital to check on his condition after being in the water for two hours, but he didn’t need treatment.
“They were pretty close to getting hypothermic when we found them, but the rescue team didn’t need to do any treatment on scene,” said Mokelumne Fire Chief Frank Ramirez.
Lodi police have confirmed that the GMC was stolen. They also found a loaded rifle in the cab, police said.
Meza was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony evading, vehicle theft, being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm and a felon in possession of ammunition, possessing drugs, resisting arrest and on an unrelated parole violation warrant.
He has been through the legal system several times prior.
Meza was convicted in March this year on charges of burglary and vandalism of $400 worth of property related to an incident in October 2015.
He was also convicted in October 2015 of vehicle theft and possessing burglary tools, violations which occurred in September 2015. In total, he has been convicted at least 10 different times since 2006 for crimes involving burglary, vehicle theft and drug possession.
Susich was arrested and booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possessing drugs, resisting arrest and on two unrelated misdemeanor warrants.
He also has a history with the courts over the past 10 years, although several of his cases have been dismissed due to a lack of prosecution. He has previously been sentenced on charges of vehicle theft, petty theft and possessing drug paraphernalia and burglary tools.
Lang was arrested and booked on suspicion of resisting arrest and being a prohibited person in possession of a loaded firearm.