At eight o'clock in the evening of February 26, 2020, 25-year-old James Juarez of Montclair, California in San Bernardino County, stole a black Lincoln Navigator hearse parked outside a church in Pasadena. The auto thief presumably had no idea the vehicle he was stealing contained a casket housing the body of a recently deceased person.
Around eight in the morning of the following day, a motorist on Interstate 110 in Los Angeles spotted the stolen hearse and called 911. While being pursued by several police vehicles, James Juarez lost control of the big Lincoln in the heavy morning traffic and crashed into several vehicles causing a huge traffic jam on one of the city's busiest freeways.
Los Angeles County deputies took Juarez into custody. Inside the badly damaged hearse, officers found the casket still containing the body. As the auto thief was being transported to the Los Angeles County Jail, the casket and its occupant were transferred, at the accident scene, into another hearse.
At his arraignment on the charge of felony grand theft auto, the judge set Juarez's bail at $35,000. If convicted as charged, Juarez faced up to three years in prison.
Around eight in the morning of the following day, a motorist on Interstate 110 in Los Angeles spotted the stolen hearse and called 911. While being pursued by several police vehicles, James Juarez lost control of the big Lincoln in the heavy morning traffic and crashed into several vehicles causing a huge traffic jam on one of the city's busiest freeways.
Los Angeles County deputies took Juarez into custody. Inside the badly damaged hearse, officers found the casket still containing the body. As the auto thief was being transported to the Los Angeles County Jail, the casket and its occupant were transferred, at the accident scene, into another hearse.
At his arraignment on the charge of felony grand theft auto, the judge set Juarez's bail at $35,000. If convicted as charged, Juarez faced up to three years in prison.
On March 13, 2020, James Juarez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 months behind bars.
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