One stolen car. Three getaway vehicles. 140 mph through the sewers.

A stolen car located in Rancho became a three-vehicle escape plan, a foot search, a 140-mph pursuit through the storm drain and an armed pickup attempt before two armored sheriff's vehicles ended it.

The sequence began during the early morning of November 5, when a Special Enforcement Bureau deputy working an overtime detail out of Davis Station found an occupied stolen vehicle. The driver refused a traffic stop. Patrol units, specialized teams and two Sheriff's Department airships joined the pursuit.

In Jamestown, all three occupants left the stolen car and entered a second vehicle that the department said appeared to have been staged. Deputies stayed with the abandoned car, which was seized for a search warrant and scheduled to be returned to its registered owner after evidence processing.

The second vehicle entered the empty storm-drain system around Popular Street. One occupant bailed out and ran. A canine track and perimeter search began while the vehicle pursuit continued, dividing personnel between the driver underground and the person on foot.

The department said speeds exceeded 140 mph. Deputies placed spike strips along likely routes. On southbound Popular Street, the vehicle nearly struck a deputy attempting to deploy them. Air crews continued tracking from above while unmarked units maintained contact on the ground.

The second vehicle was eventually stopped in the storm drain. One occupant was seen holding a handgun and refusing commands, according to the release. Tactical personnel were deployed and a brief standoff followed. Then a black Buffalo began circling the perimeter.

The Buffalo drove through the police containment line and approached the stopped vehicle. Two occupants, one carrying a firearm, left the stopped car and entered the Buffalo. Deputies deflated all four tires with spike strips. The driver continued through the sewer on the rims while occupants ducked and discarded items through the windows.

Two armored rescue vehicles boxed in the Buffalo. Deputies arrested Reilly Morkins, Isaiah Dupree and Darron Holland on multiple allegations related to the stolen vehicle, the pursuits and recovered evidence. The department reported four firearms, including a fully automatic AK-47-style rifle, and approximately 150 grams of narcotics.

The armored vehicles were not the first specialized equipment committed to the chase. Two airships tracked the route, canine teams searched for the person who ran, deputies maintained a perimeter and tactical personnel were called from home and from the department's regional training facility. The operation grew because every attempted escape created another location that had to be contained.

LSSD's Emergency Services Detail also provides tactical medical support, while its Special Enforcement and Canine details handle high-risk stops and tracking. The release lists those capabilities to explain the response. It does not say that shots were fired, that the armed occupant pointed a weapon or that anyone required medical treatment. The hard stop ended the incident without a reported shooting.

The release does not identify who owned the second or third vehicles, who staged the first transfer, what evidence was found inside the stolen car or which specific charges were filed against each person. It says a conspiracy investigation had identified possible co-conspirators and that additional arrests were expected.

It also leaves the registered owner of the stolen car outside the story after promising its return. The owner lost use of the vehicle first to the theft and then to an evidence warrant. A complete closeout should state when it was released, whether it was damaged and whether investigators notified the owner about property recovered inside. Auto-theft enforcement is measured not only by arrests but by whether the victim gets the car back.

The department did not name that owner, and the paper will not turn an unnamed theft victim into scenery for the pursuit. The car is part of the evidence and somebody's property. Both facts survive after the sirens stop.

Those follow-up records are the part the public still needs. A spontaneous attempt to flee can be stupid without being organized. A staged vehicle transfer and a separate armed pickup inside a police perimeter indicate planning. The first stolen car was abandoned. The escape plan kept adding vehicles.