Not all days are slow in the small beachy community of San Luis Obispo, a city and county locally referred to as SLO. Located along California’s Central Coast, SLO is home to a historic mission, a California State University, wineries, art galleries, and its newest resident, a military-grade tank transporter that loves long walks on the beach. Oh, if only I were joking.
The sheriff’s office answered a call regarding a suspicious vehicle parked in a lot in nearby Los Osos, California. The mystery vehicle was described as the front cab of a military-style tractor-trailer. Whoever reported the vehicle wasn’t too far off. Turns out the vehicle was an Oshkosh M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET). The M1070 is built to U.S. Army specs in order to move large and heavy machinery and vehicles. This includes self-propelled artillery, armored vehicles, and, of course, tanks like the M1 Abrams, the American army’s go-to battle tank.
Built earlier in the year, this particular M1070 wasn’t yet scheduled for R&R, so why was it hanging loose near Morro Bay? Because it had been stolen while in transit to Southern California. How one steals a military transporter, especially one that can haul a tank, is a story in itself or a page ripped from the Fast & Furious 11 script. (Yes, there’s going to be another one.)
And, like the F&F franchise, this story involves a climactic pursuit because when deputies arrived, their person of interest fled with the M1070. The driver ended up a few miles down the road in Montana de Oro State Park, where he had crashed through the gate. Fittingly, the vehicle became lodged in an area known as Sandspit Beach.
If I were a SLO Sheriff’s Deputy, I’d have been looking for hidden cameras at this point.
Even though stuck in the sand several times over and now surrounded by a law enforcement cornucopia of local and federal agencies, the driver still refused to exit the tank transporter.
SLO sheriff’s deputies, Harbor Patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard, and California State Park Rangers were all involved and had set up a perimeter around the military vehicle. This was the kind of action the M1070 was looking for, anyway. Eventually, the SLO Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Detail (SED) arrived and threw tear gas into the vehicle. That did it.
The driver finally emerged from the vehicle and was taken into custody that night. Since identified as Patrick Kevin Van Ess, 63, of Los Angeles, he is being charged with theft of the vehicle, evasion, and destruction of public property. The latter two are felonies in California while vehicle theft can be filed as either a misdemeanor or felony.
Given the type of vehicle stolen and the involvement of multiple law enforcement agencies, Van Ess is probably looking at another felony. The investigation is ongoing.