Man Tried (And Failed) to Steal Two Different Planes

Sonoma County police are on the hunt for a man who reportedly attempted theft of two different aircraft at the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport (STS) on October 13. Luckily, a member of the airport staff witnessed the event and was able to scare the man off before the situation got too serious.

Pilot and aircraft mechanic Jared Ostello was hard at work that morning when he saw an unfamiliar man come out onto the tarmac and jump into a plane.

“He closed the door and I saw all the lights start coming on one by one,” Ostello recalled. “And that's when I realized I got to go do something with this guy. I got to get him out of this airplane before he destroys it.”

The man was apparently hitting all the buttons and had the throttle, mixture, and battery engaged, but was ultimately unable to get the machine on or in motion. Ostello quickly went over and removed the man from the aircraft.

But the chase didn’t stop there. The man paused for a second before taking back off towards a large hangar.

“I was thinking, oh no. I wanted him to run the other way and he just started running towards the airplane and I just thought, oh no,” Ostello continued.

‘Oh no’ indeed, because the man happened to go for a plane owned by Ostello’s boss. However, Ostello was close behind and, again, stopped him. The mechanic then called the authorities while the attempted thief turned tail and got away.

Airport officials suspect that the man was able to get onto the grounds through a hole in the chain link fence, which has been in the upgrade process for a few weeks now.

“This was a momentary issue,” explained STS Airport Manager Jon Stout. “The fence will be fully upgraded in the next two weeks so that it won't be an issue. We also do regular patrols of the perimeter and the property.”

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office is still on the lookout for the suspect.

FMI: www.sonomacountyairport.org