STOLEN TRUCK PURSUIT ENDS WHEN K9 CHICO JOINS THE CHASE

A Stolen Pickup Suddenly Reappears

Three days after a Chevrolet Silverado disappeared from a San Diego neighborhood, its owner saw something he probably never expected to see again.

His truck.

But someone else was driving it.

What followed on February 23, 2024 developed from a stolen-vehicle report into a police pursuit through San Diego, a tire-deflation attempt, a dead-end street and finally a desperate run up an embankment.

Waiting near the end of that pursuit was an SDPD police dog named Chico.

According to San Diego Police Department records, the vehicle was a 1995 Chevrolet Silverado originally parked in the 4500 block of 40th Street. Its owner discovered on February 20 that it had been stolen. The owner still possessed the truck's only legitimate key.

Three days later, the truck resurfaced.

And this time, its owner was there to see it.

THAT SIGHTING WOULD SET OFF A CHAIN OF EVENTS ENDING WITH OFFICERS AND A K-9 SCRAMBLING UP AN EMBANKMENT AFTER THE DRIVER.

The Owner Spots His Missing Silverado

On February 23, the victim located his Silverado around 36th Street near Adams Avenue, according to the police report.

Two people were inside.

There was another important detail.

The truck's original license plate had apparently been removed and replaced with an Arizona plate.

Instead of confronting the occupants, the owner followed the truck while contacting police.

Officers responded and attempted to conduct a traffic stop.

The driver was subsequently identified by police as Evan Baltsas.

But the Silverado didn't pull over.

Baltsas allegedly failed to yield.

THE STOLEN-VEHICLE INVESTIGATION HAD JUST BECOME A PURSUIT.

The Pursuit Moves Through San Diego

The aerial footage provides a completely different perspective from the body-worn cameras that appear later.

From above, the stolen Silverado becomes the focal point of a coordinated police response.

Patrol officers follow on the ground while an SDPD helicopter maintains a view from overhead.

That aerial perspective matters during a pursuit.

Ground units constantly deal with intersections, traffic, buildings and changes in direction. A helicopter can maintain broader visual awareness without needing to remain immediately behind the fleeing vehicle.

Police said Baltsas committed multiple traffic violations during the pursuit.

Officers eventually deployed Stop Sticks on the Moreno Boulevard ramp.

They worked.

All four tires of the Silverado were punctured.

For many drivers, four damaged tires would mean the end.

Not here.

FOUR PUNCTURED TIRES DIDN'T END THE ESCAPE

The Silverado continued moving.

According to SDPD's report, it traveled north on Moreno Boulevard before turning west onto Savannah Street.

There was one major problem with that decision.

Savannah Street was a dead end.

The pursuit was rapidly running out of road.

The helicopter footage captures the pickup from above as the driver reaches the point where continuing in the vehicle is no longer a realistic escape plan.

Then the driver's door opens.

The chase changes again.

BALTSAS ABANDONS THE TRUCK AND RUNS.

His female passenger does not follow him.

According to the police report, she remained with the Silverado and was detained and handcuffed by officers.

Baltsas, meanwhile, headed west with a black backpack and began moving up an embankment toward Tecolote Road.

That was where Chico entered the story.

K9 CHICO IS DEPLOYED

A police K-9 pursuit is very different from the vehicle chase that precedes it.

The advantage provided by a car disappears instantly.

Now terrain matters.

Speed matters.

Vegetation matters.

And every second a fleeing person remains out of officers' reach increases the possibility that officers will lose visual contact.

Baltsas was attempting to move up an embankment.

SDPD canine officers responded.

And K-9 Chico was deployed.

The aerial footage shows how quickly the gap closes once the foot pursuit begins.

From the suspect's perspective, the strategy is straightforward: get away from the road, climb the embankment and create enough distance to disappear.

But a trained police dog changes that equation dramatically.

CHICO WAS FASTER.

THE CHASE ENDS IN THE BRUSH

The perspective suddenly shifts from the relatively controlled helicopter footage to chaotic bodycam video.

Grass fills the frame.

Officers converge.

Baltsas is on the ground.

Chico and his handler are directly involved in controlling the scene while additional officers arrive.

The SDPD report states that canine officers were able to detain Baltsas before he could make it up the embankment.

That detail matters.

Had he reached the top and moved farther into the surrounding area, officers could have faced a substantially more complicated search.

Instead, the escape ended only moments after he left the pickup.

Other officers approached the scene.

One officer reported pointing his department-approved handgun toward Baltsas while approaching.

According to that officer's report, Baltsas did not continue resisting and was subsequently handcuffed.

The pursuit was over.

The investigation wasn't.

OFFICERS SEARCH THE BACKPACK

Once Baltsas was under control, police began dealing with everything left behind by the pursuit.

That included the backpack he had allegedly carried from the Silverado.

According to the official SDPD report, officers found two bags containing a white crystalline substance inside the backpack. The reporting officer stated that, based on his training and experience, he believed the material was a controlled substance.

Police also reported finding a black extendable baton inside the backpack.

The items were collected and booked as evidence.

But investigators found another piece of evidence that potentially helped explain how a truck whose owner still possessed its legitimate key could have been operated.

Inside the Silverado, police located two shaved keys.

Investigators reported that both could start the stolen pickup.

That discovery connected the end of the pursuit back to the mystery at its beginning.

TWO ACTIVE FELONY WARRANTS

The arrest also revealed that the driver already had outstanding legal issues.

A records check showed two active felony warrants for Baltsas, according to the SDPD report.

One warrant had been issued in October 2023 in connection with California Penal Code section 459.

A second warrant had been issued in November 2023 in connection with Health and Safety Code section 11379.

Police records listed the first as a no-bail warrant and the second with a $75,000 bail amount.

Those are details that viewers would never know from watching only the K-9 takedown.

The dramatic ending is only the final few seconds of a much larger incident.

FROM HELICOPTER FOOTAGE TO BODYCAM CHAOS

One reason this footage is so compelling is the transition between perspectives.

From the helicopter, everything looks almost organized.

The streets form a grid.

The pickup is visible from hundreds of feet above.

Police vehicles can be seen positioning themselves around it.

The driver's movement can be tracked.

Then the footage switches to bodycam.

Suddenly, that clarity disappears.

Tall grass blocks visibility.

Officers are moving quickly.

Commands overlap.

The K-9 is directly in front of the camera.

The suspect is partially obscured by vegetation and responding officers.

That contrast demonstrates something police footage frequently hides when viewed from only one angle:

AN INCIDENT THAT LOOKS SIMPLE FROM ABOVE CAN BE EXTREMELY CHAOTIC AT GROUND LEVEL.

WHY THE HELICOPTER MATTERED

The SDPD helicopter did more than provide dramatic footage.

Air support can allow officers to follow a fleeing vehicle without relying exclusively on patrol cars maintaining constant visual contact.

The aerial camera also preserves an unusually clear record of how the pursuit developed.

In this case, it captures the Silverado's movement and the moment the vehicle portion of the escape gives way to a foot pursuit.

Then Chico and the officers take over on the ground.

It is a coordinated response involving several different police capabilities:

Patrol officers.

Traffic-stop tactics.

Stop Sticks.

Air support.

K-9 officers.

And finally officers moving on foot.

Each becomes relevant at a different stage of the same incident.

WHY CHICO BECAME SO IMPORTANT

The final stage lasted only a short time, but it was arguably the point where K-9 Chico became most valuable.

Once Baltsas left the Silverado, police no longer had a vehicle to follow.

They had a person running toward terrain that could potentially provide concealment.

Officers could chase him.

But Chico could close distance differently.

Police dogs used in apprehension work are trained to respond to commands from their handlers while maintaining focus in environments filled with noise, people and rapidly changing movement.

That doesn't mean every fleeing suspect requires K-9 deployment, and police-dog use remains subject to departmental rules and the circumstances confronting officers.

In this particular incident, however, SDPD's own report specifically credits canine officers with stopping Baltsas before he made it farther up the embankment.

The footage shows what that description looks like in reality.

THE STOLEN SILVERADO COMES BACK TO ITS OWNER

It is easy to focus exclusively on Baltsas, Chico and the chase.

But there is another person at the center of the story.

The truck's owner.

Days earlier, someone had taken his 1995 Silverado.

He still had its only key.

Then, almost unbelievably, he saw his own truck being driven through San Diego.

Instead of allowing the vehicle to disappear again, he contacted police and followed it.

That call gave officers the opportunity to locate the truck and initiate the attempted stop described in the official report.

Without that chance encounter, the outcome could have been completely different.

A stolen truck that had already received a different license plate might simply have disappeared again.

Instead, the owner recognized it.

That was the first link in the chain.

A PURSUIT WITH MULTIPLE ENDINGS

The incident effectively ends several times.

The first possible ending comes when officers attempt the traffic stop.

The driver allegedly refuses.

The second comes when Stop Sticks puncture all four tires.

The Silverado keeps moving.

The third comes when the truck reaches Savannah Street.

The driver abandons it.

The fourth comes when Baltsas tries to escape on foot.

That is where Chico finally ends it.

This progression is precisely what makes the footage so effective.

Every time it appears the incident is about to conclude, another decision extends it.

STOPPING DURING THE INITIAL TRAFFIC STOP WOULD HAVE ENDED EVERYTHING.

Instead, police records describe a pursuit, four punctured tires, an abandoned truck and a final attempt to escape on foot.

THE MOMENT EVERYTHING STOPS

Look again at the final bodycam footage.

There is no longer a moving Silverado.

No helicopter chase.

No suspect sprinting uphill.

Officers surround one location in the grass.

Chico is on leash.

Baltsas is controlled.

The female passenger has already remained behind with the truck.

The dramatic movement that defined the previous minutes is gone.

That abrupt transition is one of the defining features of police pursuit footage.

Chaos can last minutes.

The ending can happen in seconds.

In this case, the final decision to run created one last chase.

AND K9 CHICO MADE SURE IT WAS A SHORT ONE.

WHEN RUNNING OUT OF ROAD DOESN'T MEAN GIVING UP

The February 23 incident illustrates how quickly a stolen-vehicle investigation can evolve.

A truck disappears.

Its owner unexpectedly spots it days later.

Police arrive.

The driver allegedly refuses to stop.

Officers deploy Stop Sticks.

Four tires are punctured.

The vehicle continues.

A dead-end street finally stops the truck.

Then the driver tries running instead.

The police report ultimately ties together what the video shows in fragments: Evan Baltsas was detained by SDPD canine officers near the Savannah Street embankment, his passenger remained with the truck, officers reported finding suspected controlled substances and an extendable baton in his backpack, and investigators located two shaved keys capable of starting the Silverado.

It began with an owner recognizing something that belonged to him.

It ended in tall grass with officers, a suspect and K-9 Chico.

Watch the Entire Pursuit Unfold

The final K-9 apprehension is only one piece of this incident. The full sequence shows how an owner spotting his stolen truck developed into a police pursuit, how officers continued tracking it after the tires were punctured, and how the escape moved from the streets to an embankment in a matter of seconds.

The helicopter view shows the scale of the response.

The bodycam shows what happened when officers finally caught up.

And K-9 Chico is there for the moment the pursuit finally ends.

Follow the link to watch the complete pursuit and see how K-9 Chico turned the driver's final attempt to escape into the last few seconds of the chase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0uY7RrP7E