Redding Record Searchlight
ANDERSON, Calif. — Two men - one of whom was apprehended by an ambulance crew - were arrested today in Redding after an Anderson police officer stopped to check out a suspected stolen vehicle downtown.
According to the Anderson Police Department, an officer was leaving Mercy Medical Center about 10:15 a.m. after conducting some interviews there when he saw the car parked at a home on the 1200 block of Placer Street.
The officer stopped to check out the car and found out it was indeed stolen, officers said, and then two men came out from the home - Gerald Ray Mills, 36, of Redding, and Wayne Lester Lapedus, 58, of Redding.
Lapedus had previously been named a suspect in the theft of the car, officers said, while Mills was on probation under Assembly Bill 109, the state’s public safety realignment program. Because of his probation status, the officer searched Mills, who was on probation for possession of a controlled substance. The officer found items typically associated with drug sales on Mills, officers said, but Mills then ran away through the parking lots of several businesses.
Mills also climbed a fence and jumped 14 feet down, at which point the officer deployed a stun gun, to no avail.
Eventually, an ambulance crew stopped Mills on South Street near East Street, and he was arrested.
Mills was found with 9.3 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale and packaging supplies, as well as an illegal knife, officers said. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to sell and resisting arrest.
Meanwhile, Lapedus was arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle.