OROVILLE — A man accused of taking a Sacramento-area fire engine on a joyride through four counties and leading police on a chase that ended in Butte County has been sentenced to jail.
A Butte County judge Thursday sentenced David Carcalete, 29, of North Highlands to four years in jail in connection with the incident that happened in July, according to court documents.
Carcalete was ordered to serve half his jail term in Butte County Jail and the other half under mandatory supervision, according to the documents. He remained in custody.
Carcalete pleaded no contest in September to a felony count of special vehicle theft and a misdemeanor resisting charge, according to the documents. He received an upper term sentence.
Video taken from a California Highway Patrol helicopter shows the stolen firetruck running up Highway 70 past East Gridley Road in July.
Carcalete also was ordered to pay restitution to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District with his co-defendant in the case, Candice Scollard, 35, of Quincy.
Scollard was sentenced in September to four years, eight months in prison in connection with the case.
The charges against Carcalete and Scollard stemmed from an episode that began about 4 p.m. July 14, when a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District fire engine was stolen from the scene of a small grass fire in Rio Linda, according to the Associated Press.
The suspects drove the engine at speeds up to 70 mph and led police on an 85-mile chase through Sacramento, Placer, Yuba and Butte counties before crashing into a drainage ditch along Highway 70 in Yankee Hill, according to the AP.
The chase lasted more than two hours.
Prosecutors said the engine was worth $1 million, and the AP reported the engine had to be towed for extensive repairs.
A judge previously ordered victim restitution to the fire district totaling more than $112,000.
No clear motive emerged from the episode, prosecutors have said. Though a California Highway Patrol officer wrote in court documents that Carcalete “made spontaneous statements that he had taken the vehicle fire engine and just wanted to go for a drive.”
Firefighters learned their engine was stolen after returning from fighting the grass fire, prosecutors said.
Video from a California Highway Patrol helicopter shows the front right tire start to smoke and burn off as the stolen fire engine nears Oroville, and continue on just the rim.
