Five suspects broke into a Union Pacific freight train in Redlands on Thursday, then led police on a high-speed chase into the mountains above Crestline before vanishing into the terrain, leaving investigators still searching for the group. No employees were hurt and all the stolen cargo was recovered, but the suspects themselves got away.
Reporter Zach Boetto detailed the pursuit and the ongoing search for CBS News Los Angeles, which first reported that the getaway vehicle used in Thursday's chase is believed by law enforcement to be the same one involved in a heist three months earlier in which suspects shot at Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway police officers. CBS News reported that officers believed the fleeing suspects may have been armed during Thursday's pursuit through the San Bernardino Mountains.
Union Pacific Railroad confirmed that despite the break-in and the chase that followed, no employees were injured and all stolen cargo was recovered, the outlet reported. The pursuit carried the suspects from Redlands up into Crestline, a small mountain community, before they managed to slip away from police.
No Threat Found Near Crestline Elementary School
The chase's path through the mountains raised immediate concerns for families near Crestline Elementary School, but the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Twin Peaks station determined there was no active threat to the campus. Classes proceeded on schedule under the school's daily lockdown protocols, per the same CBS News account.
The case echoes an August burglary in Devore's Cajon Pass, where a gunman opened fire on a BNSF officer during a rail car break-in. Five suspects, including 21-year-old Angel Castro, were arrested in that incident, according to KESQ. Hoodline previously reported a $2M bail hold tied to that same Cajon Pass shooting case.
Task Force Investigations
The Sheriff's Rural Crimes Task Force has worked on rail cargo theft investigations, including cases involving coordination with BNSF Railroad Police, KESQ notes. In one investigation, search warrants in South Gate and Paramount led to the recovery of more than $2 million in stolen BNSF merchandise, according to CBS News.
The scale of these crews has varied widely. In May, deputies responding to reports of 15 suspects riding a BNSF freight train in Devore arrested two men and recovered stolen cargo after a high-speed vehicle pursuit in which a fleeing suspect was struck on Interstate 215, Victor Valley News reported. Under California Penal Code Section 487h, stealing cargo worth more than $950 from a railcar, shipping container, or trailer is charged as grand theft cargo, a wobbler offense punishable by up to three years in county jail, per Railway Supply.
Part of a Statewide Surge in Rail Theft
Thursday's chase fits into a broader pattern that has played out repeatedly across Southern California's rail corridors this year. Hoodline has tracked a string of similar incidents, including a torched freight car in Riverside, a 30-person raid in Helendale, and an Amboy heist involving 15 to 20 suspect vehicles.
CargoNet reported that overall cargo theft incidents fell 26% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, even as total financial losses surged to $304.6 million as organized groups shifted toward targeting higher-value freight.
For now, the suspects from Thursday's Redlands-to-Crestline chase remain unaccounted for, and the investigation into the getaway vehicle's connection to the earlier heist continues.
