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California man chased by helicopter he shot at
44-year-old Joshua Chimarusti from Oak View, California fired several handgun rounds at a Ventura County Firehawk helicopter last Wednesday night.
Making his actions even more bizarre, the crew that he fired upon was training to fight the wildfires that continue to scourge California’s forests.
(Photo Credit: Ventura County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments/Modified)
Some have described the man as a lookalike of the “GTA V” character, Trevor Philips. Some on social media believe that he not only resembles the character, but that he also shares some mannerisms with him as well.
According to the Ventura County Sheriff’s media release, at around 9:15 PM last Wednesday, the crew on Copter 4 were conducting nighttime training. During the training exercises, gunshots began to ring out near the helicopter.
As soon as the shots were heard, the pilot of Copter 4 took evasive action. The flight crew quickly noticed Chimarusti speeding out of the area in his vehicle.
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Copter 4 immediately pursued the vehicle, which led the crew to Olive Street in Oak View. Once the helicopter caught up to Chimarusti, he aimed his handgun once again and fired at Copter 4.
After offering his final shots, the man desperately attempted to escape on foot.
Playing with Fire
Chimarusti managed to evade police until the early morning of the next day. He was caught once a variety of law enforcement converged on his location.
According to the media release, it was a combination of “investigative units, K9, UAV, a small SWAT contingent, and Ventura County Copter 3, that led to the capture of Chimarusti.
Chimarusti was arrested and booked at the Ventura County Pre-Trial Detention Facility for six different charges.
The charges include: attempted murder, assault with a firearm upon a peace officer or fire fighter, shooting at an occupied aircraft, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, prohibited person in possession of a firearm and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm.
Regardless of whether Chimarusti is simply unhinged, or he really loves wildfires, the man is a danger to society and California’s forests.
Chimarusti’s arraignment was scheduled for yesterday, but Pop Smoke Media was unable to get word on how it unfolded.
