Suspect in Stolen Vehicle Leads Roseville Police on Residential Chase

Roseville resident Lorna Eby experienced what she described as an "extremely disruptive and disturbing" event Tuesday evening when a high-speed chase ended near her Hillcrest Avenue home.

The event occurred around 7:45 p.m. when, according to Roseville Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther, officers spotted an occupied stolen vehicle in the area of Loretto Way and Quail Circle. From there it officers followed the vehicle to King Road, on the east side of Saugstad Park, where the suspect, now known to be Gary Lee Fowler, 43, abandoned the vehicle and ran into a nearby creekbed.

At about 9:40 p.m., while the search in the Saugstad Park/Hillcrest area was still underway, Gunther said a separate call of shots fired was reported in the area of Oakland and Grape streets.

"It’s a distance from the search area and not related to the search, but residents in the search area might have been able to hear the shots because of the way sound carries up the creek," Gunther said in an emailed response. "Officers found bullet casings, but no bullet holes were found in any vehicles or buildings, and no injured people were found."

Despite a lengthy search, officers were unable to locate the driver, whom they believe was Fowler, according to a press release.

For the entire story, one needs to go back two days, according to Gunther, when at approximately 8:06 p.m. on Jan. 27, a car rental customer went to drop off keys at a car rental agency on North Sunrise Ave., and found that the key drop box had been broken into. According to Gunther, employees checked the lot and confirmed that six of their vehicles were missing. Searching the area, officers found that someone had moved five of the rental vehicles to other parking lots in the area, according to a police report.

From video surveillance and other information gathered during the investigation, detectives identified Fowler as a suspect. They also located the empty holster to a handgun, which led officers to believe Fowler was in fact in possesion of a handgun.

"Officers know who he is, and will continue to investigate until he is found and arrested," Gunther said.

Roseville PD is asking that anyone who sees Fowler not try to approach or detain him, but to call 911 immediately. 

Those with information about his whereabouts, call Roseville Crime Stoppers at 916-783-STOP, or submit a crime tip online by visiting the Roseville Police Department's website at www.roseville.ca.us/police, and selecting "submit a tip" from the menu on the left. People can also text a tip to "CRIMES" (274637), starting the text with the word "ROSEVILLE."