A Solano County Superior Court judge sentenced a 31-year-old Oakland man to four years and eight months in state prison for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon.
Judge William J. Pendergast III sentenced Erick Baudelio Sanchez Ovelle on Aug. 6 in Department 11 in the Justice Center in Fairfield, District Attorney Krishna Abrams noted in a press statement issued late Tuesday.
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A jury on May 29 found Sanchez Ovelle guilty of the charge, a felony, and two other felonies: evading an officer with willful disregard and resisting arrest.
Court records show that at about 3:25 a.m. June 1, 2023, Fairfield Police Officer Dustin Kimball (now of the Placer County Sherriff’s Department) was patrolling the area of Red Top Road and Interstate 80. A white van caught Kimball’s attention and he decided to run its plates. The van came back stolen, so the officer began a traffic stop. However, instead of pulling over, the driver, later identified as Sanchez Ovelle, accelerated to 100 mph on the freeway.
Eventually, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Matthew Langford and CHP officers Alejandro Martinez-Tejeda and Brent Logar took over the pursuit. Sanchez Ovelle continued evading officers for several minutes. Once he arrived at the Manuel Campos overcrossing, he started to pull over to the side of the road.
However, instead of coming to a complete stop, Sanchez Ovelle made a U-turn and began traveling into oncoming traffic, putting the public and officers in danger. Officer Logar pinned the Sanchez Ovelle’s vehicle into the center median, but that did not stop him. He kept accelerating, ramming into Sgt. Langford’s patrol vehicle. He then drove in reverse a short distance while dragging Officer Logar’s vehicle. He then rammed Sgt. Langford’s vehicle again.
Sanchez Ovelle then got out his vehicle and fled on foot across I-80. He was later located and apprehended.
In sentencing him to state prison, Pendergast noted “the dangerous and seriousness nature of the defendant’s criminal conduct,” Abrams said in the prepared statement.
CHP Sgt. Langford, CHP officers Martinez-Tejeda and Logar and former Fairfield Police Officer Kimball investigated the case.
Deputy District Attorney Michael R. Silva led the prosecution.
Deputy Public Defenders Rachel Schroder and Denisse Tanasa represented Sanchez Ovelle.
