PC-GUY
1
SONOMA COUNTY
When Claud Gipson-Reynolds got his fire truck stuck in the mud along a rural Sonoma County road Friday, he did what anyone would naturally do: He called for a tow truck on the engine's radio.
The problem was, the intoxicated Gipson-Reynolds had just stolen the fire truck, crashing through the fire station door, to try to push his car out of the same mud.
Instead of a tow truck, dispatchers sent the California Highway Patrol to lock him up.
"I could probably get on that show, 'World's Dumbest Criminals,' " a chastened and sober Gipson-Reynolds, 36, said Saturday from his Santa Rosa home after bailing out of the Sonoma County jail on charges of vehicle theft and drunken driving. "I was pretty intoxicated at the time. My thinking was not the best."
Gipson-Reynolds said he had been on a two-day drinking binge following a fight with his wife when the clutch of his 1983 Chevrolet gave out. He ended up stuck in the mud on Cavedale Road, a windy, one-lane street about eight miles from Glen Ellen on the ridge between Sonoma and Napa counties.
According to Gipson-Reynolds and the CHP, he broke into the nearby Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Station looking for a phone.
"It wasn't wide open but the garage door was not very secure," he said.
When he couldn't find a phone, he took the truck -- described as a small, four-wheel drive with ladders, water and first-aid equipment -- and drove straight through the station door. Gipson-Reynolds said he thought he could free his car, then drive the fire truck to a pay phone to call a tow truck.
"Unfortunately, I drove the fire truck off the road about 20 feet from my car," he said.
Two passers-by stopped and Gipson-Reynolds told them someone at the fire station had loaned him the truck.
When police and firefighters arrived, they found Gipson-Reynolds' car full of beer bottles and Narcotics Anonymous pamphlets.
"I've been in the fire service 43 years. This is the first time I've ever heard of anything like this," said Mayacamas Fire Chief Gene Reed.
Despite damage to the fire station and the truck, Reed said he's just glad nobody was hurt.
"I'm not too angry. I'm more amused," he said.
As for Gipson-Reynolds, he said a night in the drunk tank is enough to convince him he needs to get help.
"If you think you might have a problem with drinking and drugs," he said, "you should seek recovery before you hit the point of no return."
E-mail Janine DeFao at jdefao@sfchronicle.com
San Francisco Chronicle
When Claud Gipson-Reynolds got his fire truck stuck in the mud along a rural Sonoma County road Friday, he did what anyone would naturally do: He called for a tow truck on the engine's radio.
The problem was, the intoxicated Gipson-Reynolds had just stolen the fire truck, crashing through the fire station door, to try to push his car out of the same mud.
Instead of a tow truck, dispatchers sent the California Highway Patrol to lock him up.
"I could probably get on that show, 'World's Dumbest Criminals,' " a chastened and sober Gipson-Reynolds, 36, said Saturday from his Santa Rosa home after bailing out of the Sonoma County jail on charges of vehicle theft and drunken driving. "I was pretty intoxicated at the time. My thinking was not the best."
Gipson-Reynolds said he had been on a two-day drinking binge following a fight with his wife when the clutch of his 1983 Chevrolet gave out. He ended up stuck in the mud on Cavedale Road, a windy, one-lane street about eight miles from Glen Ellen on the ridge between Sonoma and Napa counties.
According to Gipson-Reynolds and the CHP, he broke into the nearby Mayacamas Volunteer Fire Station looking for a phone.
"It wasn't wide open but the garage door was not very secure," he said.
When he couldn't find a phone, he took the truck -- described as a small, four-wheel drive with ladders, water and first-aid equipment -- and drove straight through the station door. Gipson-Reynolds said he thought he could free his car, then drive the fire truck to a pay phone to call a tow truck.
"Unfortunately, I drove the fire truck off the road about 20 feet from my car," he said.
Two passers-by stopped and Gipson-Reynolds told them someone at the fire station had loaned him the truck.
When police and firefighters arrived, they found Gipson-Reynolds' car full of beer bottles and Narcotics Anonymous pamphlets.
"I've been in the fire service 43 years. This is the first time I've ever heard of anything like this," said Mayacamas Fire Chief Gene Reed.
Despite damage to the fire station and the truck, Reed said he's just glad nobody was hurt.
"I'm not too angry. I'm more amused," he said.
As for Gipson-Reynolds, he said a night in the drunk tank is enough to convince him he needs to get help.
"If you think you might have a problem with drinking and drugs," he said, "you should seek recovery before you hit the point of no return."
E-mail Janine DeFao at jdefao@sfchronicle.com
San Francisco Chronicle