Youth Who Stole Plane May Have Also Taken Other Aircraft

The 17-year-old pilot who led authorities on a wild, bullet-punctuated chase in a stolen, twin-engine plane over the weekend had only limited flight experience and apparently learned much of his flying from books, authorities said Monday.

The 115-mile joy ride ended about 2 a.m. Sunday, when helicopter officers using a heat-sensing device located the plane at El Monte Airport and arrested three teen-agers on the ground, said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Bryant.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Peppler said the youths told him that their weekend escapade was the latest in a series of incidents in which the young pilot had stolen a plane from a Southern California airfield and “taken it for a ride” before abandoning the aircraft at another airport.

“He is suspected of being involved in several other thefts of planes, but that has not been confirmed yet,” added Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Stodelle.

“He has five hours of formal flight instruction in single-engine aircraft,” Stodelle said. “He learned in a book about flying twin-engine aircraft.”

One of the passengers, Jeffery Dudgeon, 18, of Monrovia, was treated for a minor bullet wound in the back, sustained earlier when San Bernardino County deputies opened fire on the aircraft during an attempt to stop it when it touched down briefly at an airport in the Mojave Desert, Bryant said.

Several bullets struck the plane, but the youthful pilot managed to take off again despite rupturing a wing fuel tank in clipping a patrol car that the deputies maneuvered in a futile effort to block the runway, authorities said.

Dudgeon, fellow passenger Michael Reed, 18, of Arcadia and the youthful pilot, whose identity was withheld because of his age, were all booked for investigation of grand theft and assault with a deadly weapon (the plane). The 18-year-olds are at the San Bernardino County Jail and the 17-year-old at a juvenile detention facility. Dudgeon and Reed were each being held in lieu of $300,000 bail.

The youths--all of whom are reportedly students at high schools in the Arcadia-Monrovia area--are scheduled to face arraignment later this week.

The chase began shortly after a service worker at Brackett Field in La Verne, who knows the owner of the $250,000, twin-engine Cessna 421-C, did not recognize the three people who climbed aboard at about 10 p.m. Saturday, said Jean Granucci, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works’ Aviation Division.

The service worker called authorities, and the Federal Aviation Administration was alerted.

“But the plane had already taxied out,” Granucci said.

Air traffic controllers tracked the eight-passenger business aircraft as it climbed over the San Gabriel Mountains and headed east toward Apple Valley.

Concluding that the plane might land there, controllers notified the sheriff’s station at nearby Victorville, and two patrol cars responded.

“They got there about 12:30 (a.m.) . . . just as the plane landed,” Bryant said. “The plane kept going on down the runway, and they drove onto the runway. . . . That’s when the pilot made a 180 (degree turn) and headed right back at them. One car maneuvered to block the runway, and the other pulled off to the side. The pilot gunned it, and as the plane approached, the deputies opened fire.

“The plane managed to take off, but it clipped the top of the car with a wing, I guess. It caused minor damage to the car’s top and the windshield.”

Peppler said that when it appeared that the plane was going to land at El Monte, controllers notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which dispatched one of its Aero Bureau helicopters operating in the area.

The bureau’s Sgt. Doug Travis said the helicopter intercepted the plane, which was flying “blacked out,” without navigation lights. The plane landed and the helicopter was able to locate it through use of an on-board infared heat-sensor device that “sees in the dark.”

“Their airplane lit up like a Christmas tree because the engine was hot,” Stodelle said. “All three suspects were inside the plane and (were) arrested without incident.”

The plane’s owner, meanwhile, said he was disturbed that deputies fired at the plane.

“It bothers me a little bit,” said Leonard Pierson of Claremont. “They might have caused a more serious accident to happen.”

Times staff writers Louis Sahagun in San Bernardino County and Jack Jones in Los Angeles contributed to this article.