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01/19/19 Eureka, CA – Homeless Man Just Released From Jail Jumps Into Police Car To Steal It – Eureka Police Officer Pulls Him Out Of The Patrol Car – The Suspect Got The Shifter Into Neutral – While The Suspect Was Being Arrested The Patrol Car Rolled Over His Legs – Injured – To Hospital
One man, who tried to steal a Eureka Police vehicle, was injured as he was dragged from the vehicle on 4th Street near the intersection with D Street in Eureka at approximately 1:45 p.m., according to Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson.
Law enforcement handcuffed the injured man and he has now been put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
According to Watson, EPD officers were doing outreach with several homeless people on the street. He said, they were attempting to get one of the men into housing, when another man, the suspect seen handcuffed in the photos, attempted to get into and drive off with a police vehicle.
Officer Brian Ross pulled the suspect out of the vehicle which was beginning to move and the police vehicle ran over the leg of the suspect, Watson said.
He added, the quick thinking by Officer Ross was able to stop the suspect from fleeing with a fully equipped police vehicle.
The suspect was transported to hospital for evaluation to see how badly he was injured and also to evaluate his mental health, Watson said.
Watson also said that the same man was arrested earlier today for car theft and had been released already.
UPDATE 5:43 p.m.: Information from Chief Steve Watson’s Facebook page,
On 1/19/2019, at about 1:33 PM, two officers with the Eureka Police Department’s Community Safety Enhancement Team (CSET) were speaking with a group of homeless individuals near the intersection of 4th and D Street.
A male, Kyle Stevens (age 20), suddenly ran up to their marked black and white patrol vehicle, which was stopped in the street only a few feet away. Stevens opened the driver’s door, entered the vehicle, and attempted to put it in drive. Shifting only in neutral, Stevens was quickly pulled from the vehicle by one of the officers as he revved the engine. As the officers were securing Stevens on the ground, the vehicle, which was still in neutral, rolled over his legs. He sustained non-life threatening abrasions to his lower legs. Stevens was transported to the hospital for evaluation prior to booking at at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for felony auto theft.
None of the officers were injured.
Of note, Stevens was released from the county jail just prior to this incident. He had been arrested and booked earlier that morning around 11:00 AM for stealing a Ford pickup truck.