Even With 4 Wheels, Getaway Can Be Elusive
The first time Buena Park police arrested Patrick Kevin West, he allegedly had just stolen a car from a gas station, driving it off a jack. He discovered too late that it had only three wheels.
Leaving a 2 1/2-mile white line in the road from the brake drum, West fled for “his own protection” to the nearby police station as a caravan of angry motorists and mechanics chased him, police said. That was March 28.
“He struck again,” Officer Terry Branum said Wednesday, referring to West’s most recent arrest in Buena Park. “But this time he at least got all four wheels on the car.”
Employees at Beach Community Hospital noticed a man lingering in the parking lot about 4 p.m. Sunday and called police. When officers arrived, Branum said, they found the 25-year-old West climbing into a car. He bolted into the hospital.
When he was finally captured, Branum said, West claimed the car belonged to his girlfriend, whose name he gave as “Lucky.”
The car, which is owned by a leasing company, was reported stolen in Anaheim April 25, Branum said.
West, an unemployed Buena Park laborer, was jailed on suspicion of grand theft auto, police said. Bail was set at $10,000.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
