I was halfway home from from the Baja 250 just outside of Yuma when the text came in...

Some background for those who don't know me, I drive a freight liner and tow a big ol' enclosed "vendor" trailer for Super Duty Headquarters" (SDHQ). We drag this beast around to all the stateside races and sell parts, safety equip, go pros, videos t-shirts etc. I am one of the few people in the world who get paid to go to races and I love it..

This is the text...



Immediately I realize that this is not the kind of conversation I wanna have via text message so I dial up my boss Serena. Serena is a 26 yr old red head who has probably forgot more about trucks then I will ever know and besides being the boss of me, she is the boss of our shop owner (Ryan). If anything happens at work, it is usually because she allows it to happen...

So, Serena tells me the story...

"We had just dropped off my new Karman Ghia and were on our way back to the house in the chase truck and wee see the shop truck parked off the side of the road." The shop truck is an awesome beat up workhorse superduty we never wash and use the hell out of and besides the freightliner, the shop truck is the only thing we have that can move our goose neck vendor trailer around the parking lot. When we drop the trailer on it, it sits on the bumps and looks like it is doing a wheelie. We dont tow it on the street like that.

Now, it is not uncommon for employees to borrow a truck or trailer form the shop on the weekends because the bosses are cool like that but, you are supposed to get permission if you do it. So Ryan and Serena ask each other, "Did you tell anyone they can take it?" and they both say "no"... So before anyone gets excited they call Kyle form the shop and ask if he took it... "Um, Nope... It was locked up and put away when I left the shop last night. Where are you guys? I'm on my way."

So now they pull up and do some investigating. There is coolant all over the front of the truck. the locks on the back of the trailer are smashed to hell and the thing has been pretty ransacked. Missing go pros (lots) fire suits, helmets, rc cars, tons of lucas oil products, seat belts, R3's, tow straps, assorted suspension parts, and also my two new LED TV sets, play station and countless other stuff. The inventory was solid as we were stocking it up for the MINT 400. The peoples hose it was parked in front of say that it has been there for a week which makes no sense but, whatever...

The cops get called and come out and take pictures and prints and I get in contact with my buddy at the police and ask him to make sure they put some extra effort into this case. After the on scene investigation is over they head back to the shop (a few miles away) to review the video from our surveillance system which state of the art and almost so good it is spooky... "In our casino, someone is always watching"...

After that, they head back to the trailer and truck to figure out how to get it home. At this point were guessing that the truck broke while the bad guy was driving it and thats why they ditched it in plain sight where they did...



Now, this is where things get exciting...

As they pull up in our big ol chase truck (this is Serena and now Kyle, with Ryan at the wheel) they see something amazing... There is a blue scion TC nosed up to the shop truck with the door and hood open and some neck tattooed having gang banger looking dude is trying to jump start the truck with some brand new jumper cables...

WTF?

Theres another sketchy dude in the shop truck and some girl in the drivers seat of the scion. So, Ryan pulls up behind the scion and which is really close to the front bumper of the shop truck and blocks him in and the three criminals eyes get wide and the basically crap themselves...

Turns out, these are some fast peeps and before anyone has a chance guy that was in the shop truck is gone with the wind, the girl and the the last guy jumps in the scion. She throws it in reverse and and slams backwards into the chase truck and then forward and clips the front of the shop truck as they try to make their escape around the back side of the truck and trailer. In the process, they take out a street sign, and a cable company box and Ryan hauls *** through the empty dirt lot chasing them in our chase truck.

Soon the thieves realize they are no match for our truck (which Ryan is now driving like a trophy truck up and over a curb and through a dirt field).

this is the chase truck...it is bad ***...



The fact that the scion is on top of, and dragging a roadside utility box is not helping him either...so, these cowards who decided he was entitled to our stuff, decides to go for it on foot. They hop out of the Scion, the girl who is wearing platform flip flops runs for it so fast she comes out of her shoes. Ryan continues the chase while Kyle is on the phone with 911...

Now, I wasnt there to see this part but everyone else in the truck said that Ryan was smiling while all this is going on, and if you knew Ryan at all, you would believe it. I do. This is his kind of fun...

"Just a little chase truck action heading the wrong way down a side walk...lol... thankfully I didn't get a ticket... besides the chase truck was just doing what we built it for... chasing... it just happened to be chaseing some crooks..." he said...



Ryan did clarify to me that the side walk was empty except for the two thieves and there was no on coming traffic.

Anyway, Ryan is pulling along side the guy who is running parallel next to a brick wall and he tries to nose into the wall and block the guy. It works for a second but the dude gets around the truck and keeps running. Ryan went after him on foot but only made it a short way before he realized his asthma would let the guy get away and we figured if he was chasing him he would be an easy target if what the guy was carrying in his hand turned out to be a gun. Since he had no inhaler on hand, he went back to the truck and threw it in gear...

Now the chase resumes and they are still going along the wall when Ryan, who has seen too many action movies apparently, says "Watch this!!!" and opens his door (which is about head high if you are standing next to it) and knocks the dude down. Without even putting the truck in park he jumps out and gets a hold of the guy who is now yelling "why you chasing me bro?" and "I can't breath bro... I can't breath" The dude is shaking and obviously scared out of his wits and Ryan has him pinned against the fence.

this is the door "after" the SDHQ version of "nerfing"...



I should prolly point out that Ryan is a big guy. More correctly, he is huge, like 6 foot 4 at least and prolly 300 pounds. He has both his arms sleeved with tattoos, a goatee and while he is a really nice guy and generous etc, he is one of the last people you wanna meet in a dark alley. I guess you could say he has a "presence" that some may find "intimidating"...When he does get pissed, his eyes are enough to break you in half and its pretty obvious he can deliver a pallet of whoop *** if he needs to...

So now Ryan has this dude pinned against the fence, Kyle is directing the police to the scene and giving them the play by play, and Serena is getting the extension cord out of the truck to hog tie the guy till the police get there... While all this is going on the punk is claiming he was just helping his friend fix his truck and has done nothing wrong. The funny part is Ryan is yelling "Take a picture of me! This is facebook GOLD!!!"
Before Serena could hog time him, the popo arrive and throw him in a squad car. The first cop on the scene was the same one who took the initial report and he was grinning from ear to ear when he pulled up and saw all this..



Now remember, the there were two others with the guy who took off. Another dude and the chick who ran out of her flip flops. The dude booked it through the neighborhood and is believed to still be at large but the chick is another story... While all this hot pursuit stuff was happening and the crew was "detaining" the bad guy the girl got away, sorta..

She flagged down somebody who was driving by and jumped in the car with him. She claimed she was running from some type of domestic abuse situation and told this bystander to just "DRIVE" which he did, finally dropping her off down the street at a drug store a mile away or so... Something about her story did not make sense to him so after he did he dropped her off, he came back and told the crew and the police what happened. They sent an officer over to the drug store where she was picked up as she exited after purchasing a hoodie and some new shoes for her bare feet...

When Serena went over to the scion "get away car that didn't get very far" they ditched to go for it on foot, they looked inside and low and behold, its filled with our stuff. Not all of it but a lot of it. A full inventory will be done today and hopefully these retards turn over the rest of the loot. I really want my TV's back...



The "get away scion" is pretty hammered...



I guess the scion clipped my trailer and damaged it a little also but were gonna just a call it a battle scar and keep it like it is... The story is well worth the dent...



some more pics of the hot pursuit aftermath...





This morning two of the three criminals sit in jail. The guy they caught has done time it turns out (for forgery.)

The trailer is secured again, the shop truck seems like it is seized but it made it back to the shop also, on a flatbed. Even one of the shop guys got out of a ticket today because he had a fast-aid sticker on his truck while recovering the superduty...

More to follow I am guessing as things develop... hopefully mug shots etc...

Ryan and all of us at SDHQ would like to thank all of our customers who actually pay for our products and services and hope that our Sunday adventure in crime fighting brings a little smile to your face. Everyone has been ripped off and far to often the thieves are never caught and if they are, the punishment is too lean. This weekend SDHQ flipped the script on some wood be thieves and we hope that our little victory makes those who have been robbed/jacked/scammed/shoplifted and basically violated, feel a little better know every once in a while, a little justice gets served up hot and fresh...