Authorities this week recovered a stolen California National Guard Humvee after a dramatic vehicle pursuit in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Officials received an alert Tuesday morning that a man, later identified as 34-year-old Anthony Stabile, allegedly shot at an unoccupied utility truck in California’s Sonoma County before driving away in the Humvee, which had been missing since this summer, according to a release from the California Highway Patrol and Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
“Stabile refused to pull over and started a pursuit,” the release said, leading law enforcement on a climactic chase that ended after they used spike strips to puncture the Humvee’s tires. Stabile, who was described as unhoused, was then arrested without incident, the release said.
The Humvee, which was reported missing from a Santa Rosa-based armory in July, was returned to the National Guard on Tuesday, Lt. Col. Brandon Hill, a spokesperson for the California Military Department, confirmed to Military Times. The Santa Rosa Armory is home to the California Army National Guard’s 579th Engineering Battalion, 49th Military Police Brigade, he noted.
Stabile was arraigned Thursday, according to Rob Dillion, a spokesperson for Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. He added that an investigation is ongoing. It’s unclear at this time whether Stabile is the same individual who initially stole the Humvee of if he has a military service background.
“Stabile was booked into jail on two outstanding misdemeanor warrants, driving on a suspended license, driving without an interlock device, and the following felonies: loaded firearm in public, shooting at an unoccupied vehicle, firing a gun from a vehicle, vandalism, unlawful possession of a gun, a loaded unregistered gun, vehicle theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, and evading,” the release said.
He is being held on a roughly $1 million bail.
Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media
