Suspect In Wild Stolen Box Truck Pursuit From L.A. To Ventura Pleads Not Guilty

Monday March 11, 2024

(Top photos courtesy CHP)

(Bottom photos courtesy Kevin Mosley)

     Updated--The suspect involved in that wild pursuit from Los Angeles to Ventura in what the authorities say was a stolen box truck has pleaded not guilty.

     The Ventura County District Attorney's Office charged 48-year-old Armando Gutierrez of El Monte with assault with a deadly weapon, evading an officer, unlawful taking of a vehicle, receiving stolen property, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and resisting arrest.

     Gutierrez not only entered not guilty pleas those charges in a Ventura courtroom Monday, he also denied special allegations of prior strike offenses and prior serious or violent felony convictions.

     It's alleged that last Wednesday (March 6th) Gutierrez stole the box truck containing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

     The chase covered miles of streets and freeways from Los Angeles to Ventura including on stretch where Gutierrez got involved in a battle with another box truck that he allegedly struck.

     The authorities say that after the CHP deployed a spike strip that flattened one of the truck's tires on the 101 in Oxnard, Gutierrez exited the northbound 101 in Ventura and got stuck on the grass embankment of Ventura Boulevard and North Bank Drive.

     The CHP says he initially refused commands to get out of the truck but after they fired less lethal rounds he got out and ran but was quickly caught and taken into custody.

    Gutierrez remains in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $500,000.