By Peter Day
Senior Reporter
Lucerne Valley Sheriff's deputies have been busy. Really busy.
During the month of April, four deputies stationed in Lucerne Valley were in the area's Top 10 — out of a total of 49 deputies — for reports written, according to Sgt. Lonnie Siebert, commander of the Lucerne Valley Substation. Altogether, Lucerne Valley deputies received 1,129 calls and wrote up 122 reports.
"They're working hard," Siebert said during a report at the recent meeting of the Lucerne Valley Municipal Advisory Council.
Siebert also discussed several recent crimes including an attempted murder on May 11.
"It was a domestic (violence call) that turned into a shooting," he said.
CHASE TO BIG BEAR
The most notable law enforcement event in April, however, was a high speed chase that began in Apple Valley, went to through Lucerne Valley and ended in the nearby mountains.
On April 7, Siebert changed into his "civi" shirt and headed to Apple Valley for a dental appointment. When he approached Apple Valley, he encountered a high-speed chase going east on Highway 18. So Siebert turned around and joined the chase.
It turned out that a 48-year-old driver refused to CHP officer's request to stop him near Bear Valley Road cutoff.
MAC Chairman Richard Selby also was driving in the area at the time and saw the procession of "a half dozen" law enforcement vehicles following the suspect, who had been released on AB109, driving an estimated 80 to 90 miles an hour.
The chase went through Lucerne Valley, then up Highway 18 toward Big Bear Lake. Siebert and a few others were in pursuit.
"He went all the way through North Shore and Fawnskin," Siebert said.
Eventually, after the CHP laid a spike strip, another law enforcement officer was able to perform a pit maneuver and stop the suspect. Siebert was close behind.
Afterward, Siebert attended a debriefing meeting. Without his official shirt, he threw on a heavy Sheriff Department issued jacket. Later, he rescheduled his dental appointment.
"Nobody got hurt," he said.