People v. Saucedo CA1/5

Filed 3/28/25 P. v. Saucedo CA1/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FIVE

THE PEOPLE, A169285 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Contra Costa County Super. Ct. No. 05001820984) NOE SAUCEDO, Defendant and Appellant.

Noe Saucedo (appellant) appeals from the trial court’s resentencing following his partially successful prior appeal. We affirm. FACTUAL BACKGROUND “On the morning of January 17, 2018, a white Ford F250 pickup truck was stolen from a street in Pittsburg. At some point after noon, sheriff’s deputy Quinton Valentine saw the truck leave a gas station parking lot. Deputy Valentine was in a patrol car, and he followed the truck into a fast- food parking lot. Valentine noticed the driver of the truck, whom he identified as appellant, look back at him in the truck’s mirrors. “Deputy Valentine followed the white truck onto Highway 4 East. He noticed the truck’s brake lights were working. The deputy followed appellant two to three car lengths behind. He did not initiate a traffic stop or pursuit

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(in which he would use lights and sirens) because he needed to wait for backup. The deputy continued to follow appellant, who drove at the speed of traffic, about 65 to 70 miles per hour. No other car was between the patrol car and the truck, and the deputy followed appellant’s lane changes. “As appellant approached the exit for Somersville Road, he moved into the exit-only lane, and then he changed lanes again to stay on the freeway. Deputy Valentine followed appellant’s lane changes. An eyewitness said it appeared the patrol car was purposely changing lanes when the truck did in order to follow the truck. “The truck then almost passed the exit ramp and ‘nearly to the last minute . . . swerved in an abrupt manner’ onto a ‘little dirt embankment’ and then ‘back onto the exit ramp for Somersville.’ When Deputy Valentine saw that, he followed down the ramp, radioed dispatch that he was in pursuit, and activated the patrol car’s overhead lights and sirens. The officer was about 15 car lengths behind appellant at that point. “The white truck accelerated as it went down the exit ramp, from about 55 to about 70 to 80 miles per hour. An eyewitness testified it appeared the truck was trying to get away. Another eyewitness testified, ‘It was definitely faster than what a vehicle would be going down a ramp usually, absolutely.’ The truck’s brake lights did not activate as it sped down the ramp. “There was a traffic light showing red in appellant’s direction at the end of the exit ramp. The truck sped through the red light and crashed into a silver Ford F150 truck that was driving on Somersville Road. The silver truck was smaller than the white truck. The crash was ‘[v]ery, very loud’; it ‘[s]ounded like a bomb going off.’ The impact of the collision pushed the silver truck over a large, raised median and into the oncoming traffic lanes. The white truck stopped in the median. Debris scattered everywhere; it looked