NEWPORT BEACH : Tab for Transient’s ‘Dozer Ride: $300,000

A transient took a joy ride on a bulldozer and caused more than $300,000 in damage to a construction site in the mouth of the Santa Ana River, authorities said Thursday.

John Lefebvre, 30, was being held at Orange County Jail on Thursday in lieu of $5,000 bail on charges of felony vandalism, Lt. Robert Rivas of the Sheriff’s Department said.

Lefebvre allegedly drove the bulldozer into a tractor, a crane and several other pieces of heavy equipment. He then drove over several pipes, including one of four-foot diameter that was being used to divert seawater, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

Seawater escaping from the pipe began flooding the construction site, ruining other pieces of equipment. The seawater also undermined some of the graded river banks that the construction crew was working on, Rivas said.

“There was flooding in a pretty sizable area,” Gonis said.

The construction project involves reinforcing the sandy banks of the river near its mouth.

After his arrest, Lefebvre told investigators that he was walking from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach about 9 p.m. Wednesday when he spotted a thermos bottle that was left on a bulldozer, police said.

Thirsty, he climbed onto the heavy equipment to take a drink from the bottle, according to police reports.

“He said that the bulldozer turned on by itself,” Rivas said. “He said he didn’t know how to turn it off, so he just drove around.”

As he drove around, witnesses, presumably construction workers, began yelling for him to get off the bulldozer and flagged down a Newport Beach police officer, Gonis said.

By the time the officer arrived at the scene, Lefebvre had climbed off the bulldozer and was riding a bicycle that had been left near the bulldozer. Police did not know if the bicycle belonged to Lefebvre or a construction worker.

Lefebvre was arrested after the Newport Beach officer called sheriff’s deputies, who have jurisdiction over the riverbank.