California Squad Car Thief Gets Two Years
12/17/03 - Ceres, CA
By Susan Herendeen - Modbee.com
A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge, Tuesday, sentenced Brian Keith Ortega, 26, to two years in state prison for stealing a police car that was left idling in front of Rose Avenue Elementary School in Modesto.
Prosecutors dropped an assault with a deadly weapon charge after Ortega pleaded guilty to vehicle theft.
Ortega was arrested May 29 near Hatch Road and Herndon Avenue in Ceres, after a short chase, about three hours after he stole the car.
He tried to get away by cutting through a convenience store parking lot, but clipped a man’s leg and rammed the car into a Stanislaus County sheriff’s patrol car.
Ethan Elder of San Francisco, who was cleaning his windshield, had minor injuries.
Gena McGill, a youth services officer with the Modesto Police Department who was at the school to drop off some documents for the campus safety patrol, faced disciplinary action for leaving the car running.