After substantial police activity over the past couple of weeks, the two primary car groups currently holding meets and takeovers decided to lay low Friday night and not host any meets. Both Night Riders & Valhalla clubs were adamant in the group chats used by racers and spectators that ‘Jose’ was the only person hosting a meet Friday night, and he was doing that independently. But before he came to the meet that night, 20-year-old Jose Sandoval had an important stop to make, and some members of the telegram chat already knew about the stolen cars and how they were taken.
Police say they responded to a burglary-in-progress call on Charlotte Pike and, upon arrival, heard someone attempting to break into the business. One of the suspects became aware of the presence of police and fled out the back fence and into a black Dodge Challenger. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed and successfully evaded officers. A short time later, the vehicle returned to the area, and police successfully deployed spike strips. Sandoval turned down a dead-end street and then swerved toward police vehicles in an attempt to escape. He eventually stopped the vehicle, which was stolen, on Briley Parkway and gave himself up.
During an extensive interview, Sandoval admitted to “being a lookout” for another suspect who he says was breaking into the business. A search of Sandoval’s vehicle, which was also stolen, yielded several high-end car keys/fobs, a programmer for car key fobs (used for stealing them), and a located pistol. [images in full story]
