Esparto High Teacher Among Victims In Yolo County Home Burglary, Car Theft Spree
WINTERS (CBS13) – A blood-covered Lake County man has been arrested after a crime spree across parts of Yolo County on Tuesday.
The Yolo County Sheriff's Office says the incident started around 2:45 p.m. when a man covered in blood walked up to a woman at a gas station in Winters. His strange statement and appearance prompted her to call authorities.
"Says he needs gas as quick as he can to get to Cache Creek or he's going to die," said Bob Pisani.
It was a bizarre encounter with a customer for Pisani when the man covered in blood and acting strangely, pulled into his Winters gas station.
"He just wanted to go as fast as he could and when I got done he took off I didn't even get the gas cap on or anything," he said.
Pisani helped him at the pump and immediately called 911.
Deputies soon found that the man was driving a car that had been reported stolen from just outside of Winters. A home burglary was already reported at that same location, deputies say.
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A few minutes after getting the call from the woman, deputies were called to a home near the intersection of County Roads 23 and 86a. At that scene, a woman reported that a knife-wielding man had gotten into her home and was threatening her. The suspect also demanded the keys to her car, deputies say.
The car the suspect was driving was found in a ditch near the home, but the spree wasn't over yet.
"As we were arriving we received another report," said Lieutenant Matthew Davis with the Yolo County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say they soon got a report about an attempted carjacking just outside of Esparto High School. The suspect had apparently tried to carjack a teacher at the school, but he was unsuccessful.
Still, deputies soon learned that the suspect had managed to carjack a different person just before the attempt at Esparto High.
Deputies soon spotted the suspect still near the school and chased him until he crashed in front of the Dollar General store at the intersection of Highway 16 and County Road 86a. He ran into the store, but deputies used a stun gun to bring him down and take him into custody.
"It was such a bizarre thing that I was initially concerned for him you know if he is driving up this road and he passes out he might hurt somebody on the road," Pisani said.
The suspect has been identified as 37-year-old Lake County resident Roland Engels. Deputies say he was first treated for the injuries he had sustained before he was booked into Yolo County Jail.
Engels is now facing a slew of charges, including multiple counts of burglary, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, vehicle theft and attempted carjacking.
