He crashed a stolen car and hid in a cattle pen. Police sniffed him out

Surrounded by about 100 cows and covered in their excrement, an auto theft suspect hid from police Monday night until he got too cold.

The Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force (StanCATT) spotted a stolen Kia Optima with stolen plates at the Travelodge at Glenwood and Lander avenues in Turlock at about 9:30 p.m., said StanCATT Detective Kyle Briggs.

When the suspect got into the vehicle a Turlock Police Officer, who was requested to assist in the apprehension, initiated a traffic stop.

The suspect initially pulled over but then drove off, south on Lander, then west on Simmonds Road.

The suspect reached speeds in excess of 110 mph, but when he got to Walnut Road about a mile away, he lost control while attempting to turn, Briggs said.

The Kia crashed into a pile of silage covered by a tarp in a dairy at the northwest corner of the intersection.

Briggs said the suspect got out of the Kia and ran into one of the outdoor cattle pens.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff Department’s helicopter had responded to the call and deputies caught sight of him entering the pen, Briggs said.

StanCATT detectives, Turlock Police and a Merced County Sheriff’s deputy with a K9, surrounded the pen.

They repeatedly ordered the suspect to surrender, but he remained hunkered down within the cows for an hour.

The temperature was in the 40s and the suspect was wet, so at about 10:30 p.m. he announced that he was cold and walked out of the pen.

Bryan Woolever, 40, of Turlock, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle and evading, all felonies. Briggs said he also had six warrants for drug-related offenses issued by Turlock Police and the Sheriff’s Department.

This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 12:27 PM.