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E-mail StoryPastor and church member track and nab car thief
| Thursday, Jul 26 2007 11:44 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 26 2007 12:12 PM
Forty-six-year-old Ronald Lee Allen of Taft wasn’t struck by lightning after allegedly stealing a car from a church parking lot in Taft. But some might believe there was some divine intervention involved.
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It all started at about 9 p.m. Tuesday when Walter Brenton, 72, of Taft was attending evening Bible study at the Free Will Baptist Church at 510 Harrison St., according to a news release from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department.
Brenton had parked his 1986 Ford Crown Victoria in the church parking lot and as the service was ending he realized his vehicle was being driven away from the church. That’s when church Pastor James Kilgore and church member Michael Rodriguez sprang into action. The duo began driving in the area looking for Brenton’s car, which they located in the area of Ash Street, according to the release.
Kilgore began following the car and telephoned the Sheriff’s Department. The suspect apparently realized he was being followed and tried to lose Kilgore and Rodriguez.
Instead, he crashed the car into the driveway at 217 Ash St., jumped out and ran about one block before he was caught by Kilgore and Martinez.
Allen was held by the churchmen until deputies arrived. He was arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto and being in possession of stolen property, said Sheriff's Sgt. Martin Downs of the Taft substation.
"We don't recommend that people try to apprehend suspects, although in this case it worked out really well," Downs said.
Kilgore, he said, is a former Bakersfield police officer, so he's naturally been in similar situations before.
As to the possibility of divine intervention in the capture, Downs remained open-minded.
"I never count out the power of God," he said.