A violent California felon desperate to get away with kidnapping a stranger and stealing beer from a gas station led police on a wild chase through an orchard last month — and even aimed a stolen gun at a pursuing helicopter.
Jason Benson Dingler, 43, allegedly carried out a series of petty crimes across the 16-hour spree before officers shot the fugitive on the side of a highway near Modesto, surveillance and bodycam footage released by the Stanislaus County Sheriff Monday shows.
Dingler kicked off the wild spree at a home in the central Californian city just after midnight Sept. 22., police said.
After loitering on the front porch for nearly an hour, a shirtless and filthy Dingler can be seen breaking down the door and breaking into the house as the homeowners were out of town.
Inside, he lifted “a firearm and several magazines of ammunition,” as well as a change of clothes, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse said.
Dingler allegedly used the stolen gun for his second crime: a kidnapping and grand theft auto roughly fourteen hours later and just a few blocks away.
“Be a good civilian … I’m active military. First battalion, second corporal, United States military,” Dingler can be heard telling the victim as he holds him at gunpoint on the porch of his home.
Dingler attempted to calm the victim’s grandmother by telling her the hostage was going to be fine before leading the man toward the pick-up truck he then stole, according to police.
The thief is accused of immediately driving to a nearby market, where he beelined to the beer aisle, grabbed a pack of Miller and Coors and dashed out the door.
The clerk triggered an alarm, finally alerting police to the criminal.
Deputies tracked Dingler down on Highway 33 and chased him as he allegedly sped 11 miles south, though he was eventually stopped after he sideswiped a civilian car, injuring the driver, and crashed into a roadside orchard, cops said.
Dingler took refuge in the trees, but allegedly fired numerous rounds with the stolen gun at pursuing deputies, as well as at a sheriff’s helicopter that was tracking him from above.
“He is pointing whatever is in his hand at us,” the officer piloting the aircraft can be heard saying in thermal footage. “I don’t know if he’s trying to shoot at us or not.”
Police said Dingler fired multiple rounds at officers — even puncturing the tire of one of the patrol cars deputies were using for cover.
Ultimately, two deputies fired shots at Dingler, striking him in the chest.
After initially ignoring police’s commands to move away from his weapon, Dingler finally relented and allowed the cops to rush toward him and provide emergency services.
He was taken to a nearby hospital in critical, but stable condition.
Dingler has since been hit with several charges — including five counts of attempted homicide of a peace officer, kidnapping, hit and run and reckless evasion.
Police said the California man has an extensive history of violent crimes that includes convictions for robbery, rape and more.
The incident is still under investigation in order to establish whether the police’s use of force was warranted.
