In a peculiar turn of events, police officers in Sacramento were engaged in a 35-minute, low-speed chase with a forklift driver during the late hours of Sunday evening and into Monday morning. The incident occurred when officers spotted a yellow forklift on the road, and when the driver refused to stop, it sparked one of the slowest police car chases ever witnessed.
Video footage captured the yellow forklift meandering through residential streets in the River Park neighborhood, illuminated by the flashing police lights, creating a bizarre scene for residents in the area.
James Nunnely, a resident who was awake at the time, described the slow chase as an unusual spectacle, noting the overwhelming police response. “It was surrounding. It was like all you could hear was sirens,” he remarked.
The forklift driver was believed to have stolen the vehicle, but investigators have been unable to locate the owner. The pursuit continued onto a bike trail, where the forklift damaged a fence near Glenn Hall Park and eventually became disabled. The driver was taken into custody on the bike trail near Howe River access without further incident.
The suspect, identified as Wayne Mathern, aged 47, now faces charges of evading, resisting arrest, and vandalism. Mathern had previously been charged earlier in the month with misdemeanor battery on a peace officer and misdemeanor giving false information. He failed to appear in court for those charges on October 16.
This unusual incident is reminiscent of a previous ATM heist attempt in Sacramento County in August, where would-be thieves used a forklift to steal an ATM. However, the heist went awry, resulting in the ATM falling off the vehicle and causing an unrelated traffic crash in the middle of a busy road.
The slow-motion forklift chase in Sacramento is yet another curious event that has left residents and authorities perplexed but ultimately resulted in no significant harm.
