The Californian

GREEN ACRES -- A Lake Elsinore man was arrested early Wednesday after he reportedly rammed a sheriff's patrol car with a stolen vehicle, authorities said.

Joshua Robert Decker, 19, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and violation of parole, according to a Riverside County Sheriff's Department report.

Just after 2 a.m., a deputy checked the license plate of a car parked at a convenience store at Highway 79 and Highway 74 in the Green Acres area. He found that the car had been reported stolen from the Wildomar area.

As the deputy drove up to the car, a man who had apparently been hiding inside started the car and used it to ram the deputy's black-and-white, the report states. The man in the stolen car then tried to flee, but the deputy was able to maneuver his patrol car to box in the stolen car and Decker was arrested after other deputies arrived, authorities said.

The deputy was not hurt in the incident.

1/11/01