Police After Thief Who Stole 2 Red Pickups in 1 Day

A man with a penchant for red pickup trucks stole two of them Monday--both of them belonging to Orange County police department employees.

“I guess the guy had it in for police and red pickups,” Buena Park Police Sgt. Terry Branum observed.

The first theft occurred about 12:45 p.m. when Buena Park Reserve Police Officer Mike Lovchik walked out of a medical center in Cerritos and saw his red 1984 Toyota pickup being backed out of the parking space.

Lovchik jumped into the back of the truck as the thief pulled away and “started pounding on the window and yelling a few choice words at the guy,” Branum said.

The thief drove onto the eastbound Riverside Freeway, “driving like a maniac” and reaching speeds as high as 90 m.p.h., Branum said.

“At one point they passed an L.A. County sheriff’s car and (Lovchik) tries to flag them down, but they don’t see him.”

When the thief exited the freeway at Knott Avenue, Lovchik was able to negotiate the release of his truck.

“He showed the suspect his badge and told him all he wanted was his truck and he would let him get away,” Branum said. “Of course, that’s not what he had in mind.”

The thief, however, had other ideas. He bailed out of the truck in a cul de sac in Buena Park, punching the accelerator pedal as he dove out, Branum said.

Lovchik waited for his truck to slow down and then attempted to stop it, but he was unable to prevent it from crashing into a street light. It received moderate damages.

By that time, the thief was long gone. He was last seen running through an apartment complex to Gilbert-West High School on La Palma Avenue, where he stole another red 1984 Toyota pickup--this one belonging to an unidentified records clerk for the Cypress Police Department.

Lovchik, who was not injured in the incident, could not be reached for comment.