At 7pm on Monday, March 18th, I was driving down East 12th Street in Marysville, heading to Beale Air Force base for my algebra class. I glanced at my rearview mirror to see police lights far behind me. I heard the sirens and, glancing back again, saw that they were all of a sudden very close and there was a car between myself and them. I hastily pulled over and the car behind me almost smashed into me. They swerved to the side and I thought they were trying to pull around me just to avoid hitting me. A piece of their tire few off but they kept driving.
The police car blew by me. And another. And another. I started to pull out but realized the line of police cars was not stopping. After about 10 more police vehicles passed, I was safely able to pull away. I was worried that I may have caused someone to damage their car because I had slammed on my brakes and caused them to have to swerve. I saw the police driving down two parallel streets trying to enclose someone and I saw a police officer grab a man and throw him to the ground. At the time, I had no idea what was going on. And then I saw the abandoned car on a lawn to my left and realized it was the car that almost hit me.
Although I was extremely shaken and confused, I was fine so I approached the stop light in Front of River’s Edge bar on East 12th and Ramirez, hit my left turn signal, and continued on to my class. After class was over, I saw the Fox 40 News Van next door to River’s Edge Bar on 12th and Ramirez so I stopped to see if anyone could tell me what had happened. A local police officer was also on the scene when I got there and I was filled in on many more details.
22-year-old Dillon James McMahon and 19-year-old John Kody Adrian had stolen a Honda Civic in Auburn, as well as allegedly beaten up an 81-year old-man from Penn Valley with a crowbar after asking for money. The police officers chased McMahon and his passenger for approximately 25 minutes until a spike strip was laid down in front of the recycling center on Highway 20. McMahon hit it, about a mile prior to almost hitting my car. The men bailed out of the still moving vehicle about 3 blocks from where I had pulled over. The Honda crashed into a yard, K-9 units were dispatched and as McMahon tried to escape, he was bitten, as well as tasered by a police officer. McMahon was brought to Rideout Memorial Hospital, Adrian was brought to jail, and the 81-year-old assault victim is at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. As of yet, the victim’s name has not been released.
At the time, in my eyes, it was all over in a matter of a few short minutes. Looking back on what was actually a long, incredibly eventful evening; knowing now what I didn’t know then, I thank God with every fiber of my being that I was in front of that Honda Civic before they bailed out of it and not after. I had missed the Fox 40 News Cast from earlier in the day so I went online and at http://www.fox40.com/ I actually saw my own car in photos and on video, pulled over on the side of the road with the police swarming past it, just moments before the abandoned car had crashed. Timing is everything.
UPDATE:
Thank you to FOX 40 NEWS, we were able to add a picture of our reporter, hmeunier’s, car in the midst of the chase.
Heather Meunier, current Print Editor of The Prospector, is a 4th semester Journalism student, and 3rd semester English tutor who also freelances for the Yuba-Sutter Community magazine. She has a passion for reading, writing, photography, and travel and plans to one day have a full time writing career or be a publicist. She prefers to write positive stories about inspiring people doing beneficial things in the community. You can reach her at prospector.hmeunier@gmail.com if you have comments or suggestions.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.