Hit-and-run suspect strikes civilian, police vehicles in flee attempt

A transient man was arrested Sept. 2 following a pursuit where three vehicles were hit, including two police vehicles.

The Folsom Police Department reported just before 9 p.m., officers stopped an SUV pulling a trailer that matched the description of a hit-and-run vehicle 15 minutes earlier. The driver provided a false name and sped off.

According to the police department, the subject struck an uninvolved vehicle when he turned wide through the intersection of Wales and Natoma streets. The subject then drove head-on into a police car stopped in the oncoming lanes. The suspect accelerated away and struck a second police car. FPD reported the suspect then left the roadway and took out a light pole before his vehicle was disabled. The pursuit was just under a mile.

The driver led officers on a foot chase before physically fighting them as he was taken into custody. Folsom Police confirmed the suspect attempted to take an officer’s taser during the altercation, and the individual and an officer suffered minor injuries.

The investigation revealed the SUV was stolen, but not yet reported, and the driver, identified as Jimmy Buckley, 50, was on probation and had an outstanding felony warrant.

Buckley was booked into the Sacramento County Jail and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, obstructing an officer, vehicle theft, felony hit-and-run causing injury, evading police in a vehicle, evading police with a wanton disregard for safety, evading police in a vehicle while driving the wrong way on a roadway, providing a false name and his felony arrest warrant. Buckley remained in custody Tuesday, with bail set at $500,000.