Suspect arrested after wild ride in Yuba City

Investigators are trying to understand what caused a Yuba City man to smash his pickup into two storefronts and three other vehicles before he tried to run down a man on the street Wednesday morning on Garden Highway.

Toxicology tests will determine if Raul Barriga was under the influence of narcotics, Yuba City police Lt. Tom Tappe said.

“It was very fortunate that more people were not hurt,” said Shawna Pavey, police spokeswoman.

No victim information was available, police said, because investigators were still gathering the lengthy list of names and damage totals Wednesday evening.

Barriga, 42, was held without bail at the Sutter County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism.

Witnesses said the driver of the red Toyota pickup, later identified by police as Barriga, rear-ended a Ford Expedition in the 400 block of Garden Highway.

Without stopping, the truck then veered into the doorway of Underground Stereo, causing slight damage to the building, witnesses said.

The truck then sped away from the stereo shop heading up the block while spinning doughnuts on the road before striking a second business.

“I saw him pull out there, and he was driving backward when he hit this place,” witness Tim Thomas said pointing to the Engines by D storefront.

The building sustained major damage.

Police said the truck driver then got back on the road, spinning doughnuts at high speeds while heading toward Percy Avenue when he collided with a brown mini-van with several young children inside. They were not hurt.

The driver then raced away again continuously spinning in larger and larger circles on the busy road.

“At that point, a man passing by got out to check on the children in the mini-van,” Pavey said.

Police said Barriga then tried to run dow the Samaritan down with his truck, but missed. The man was not hurt.

The truck driver then spun out, again making a series of doughnuts in the road, and somehow wound up in a field at Percy and Garden Highway where he became stuck. Barriga surrendered immediately.

Marysville’s Michael Kowalski works at the damaged car stereo store and said Barriga has been a regular customer for several years.

Kowalski said there was something “just kind of off” about Barriga on Wednesday.

“Something was not clicking correctly today, I could tell,” Kowalski said.

Jail records show Barriga has a relatively minor criminal history in Sutter County, including multiple convictions in 2008 and 2009 for resisting and obstructing police.

CONTACT Rob Parsons at rparsons@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4785. Find him on Facebook at /ADcrimebeat or on Twitter at @ADcrimebeat.