In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a disruptive break-in at a Tesla dealership in San Bernardino County unfolded, leading to a high-stakes police chase across 210 Freeway lanes. Upland Police Department, responding to a report from a monitoring company regarding a burglary in progress at Tesla, made six arrests tied to the incident.
According to a post by KTLA, at approximately 4:53 a.m., five individuals illegally entered the Tesla building before fleeing, hopping a fence toward the 210 Freeway, and trying to evade capture under the concealment of bushes. Upland Police Department swiftly established a perimeter, garnered the support of a K9 unit named Rudy, a launched drone, and called for backup from nearby law enforcement agencies. A spotted Camry without license plates lurking near the Tesla site prompted further suspicion, leading to the detention of a single suspect within the vehicle.
The remaining suspects attempted a daring escape across the westbound lanes of the 210 Freeway. Officers present were able to halt traffic and swiftly detain three of them following a brief pursuit on foot. Still, two persisted in their dash across the eastbound lanes of traffic. A statement obtained by NBC Los Angeles details the use of a drone equipped with thermal imaging, which proved instrumental in tracking the suspects, allowing officers to direct their search into a nearby residential community as one suspect initiated a commotion, hopping fences.
Ultimately, the effort of forces combined including, the Upland Police Department, Rancho Police Department, California Highway Patrol's Rancho Division, and Claremont Police Department culminated in the capture of all six Los Angeles County suspects. "All in all, 6 out of 6 adult suspects, all out of Los Angeles County, were captured," the Upland Police Department shared in a social media post. They face felony commercial burglary charges among a multitude of other offenses.
On Wednesday morning around 4:53 am, we received a call of a burglary in progress at Tesla. The reporting party was the monitoring company who saw 5 subjects break into the building. Officers converged on the area and got to work. An immediate perimeter was set up, K9 Rudy was… pic.twitter.com/UwxlppDvZX
— Upland Police Department (@UplandPD) February 7, 2025
One individual's resolute flight from officers ended near an El Pollo Loco at 19th Street and Campus Avenue, marking the conclusion of an early morning saga that disrupted the everyday ebb and flow of freeway traffic and underscored the reactive capabilities of local law enforcement utilizing modern technology to maintain public safety.
