Police Chase Leaves Tree Trimmers Out on a Limb

A member of a county tree-trimming crew bolted from the job Monday, leading authorities on a half-hour chase through three cities and leaving two co-workers up a tree.

Duane Carlson, 30, of Westminster was arrested in a 5-ton county truck and jailed on suspicion of evading arrest.

No one was injured during the low-speed chase, and investigators said they don’t know what caused Carlson to flee.

“It’s very unusual circumstances,” said Dale Dillon, a supervisor with the county’s Environmental Management Agency. “Never before have I had an employee do this, where they chased him all through town.”

Carlson, a seven-year county employee, had been working with two partners on a tree-trimming crew in an unincorporated residential area near Tustin. He climbed into the truck shortly before 11 a.m. and took off, hauling a wood chipper behind him, Dillon said.

His two partners were up a tree at the time, sawing branches, and Carlson’s job was to stay on the ground and feed the fallen limbs into the wood chipper.

EMA supervisors and workers contacted Carlson by radio during the chase and tried to talk him into stopping, but he was “incoherent and using a lot of profanity,” Dillon said.

“Many times we tried to talk to him on the radio, but apparently he didn’t recognize any of us and was just ranting and raving.”

Sheriff’s deputies and Orange police officers--with help from a helicopter--chased Carlson for 30 minutes as he lumbered through stop signs and red lights in the county vehicle, Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.

Carlson traveled at 45 to 50 mph through Tustin into downtown Orange and onto the Orange Freeway before pulling into the EMA yard behind Anaheim Stadium, Wilkerson said.

Officers blocked off side streets ahead of Carlson to prevent accidents after it became obvious that he was not stopping, officials said.

“We’re just pleased that no innocent person was injured in the chase,” Dillon said. “Commendations need to go to the Sheriff’s Department and the Orange Police Department. They were capable of keeping ahead of him enough to stop side traffic at all the intersections.”

Carlson pulled into the EMA work yard about 11:30 a.m.

“When he stopped the truck, he refused to get out,” Wilkerson said. “He was argumentative with the deputies.”

Dillon met with county personnel officials Monday to discuss the situation and said Carlson will receive a 72-hour psychological evaluation while incarcerated. He was being held Monday in lieu of $25,000 bail at County Jail, Wilkerson said.