MAGALIA, Calif. — A minor was arrested Monday after he crashed a stolen truck after the vehicle owner tried to intervene, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said it received a call around 2 a.m. from a 50-year-old man named Robert Etta, telling deputies that his truck had been stolen in the area of Crescent Drive in Magalia.
The sheriff's office said Etta tried to stop his truck from being stolen by jumping into the back of the truck.
Etta was asking for help from deputies while he was in the back of the truck, the sheriff's office said. The dispatcher stayed on the line with Etta as deputies and California Highway Patrol officers were responding to the area.
While law enforcement was on their way, the sheriff's office said the dispatcher heard a crash. Deputies found the truck on Carnegie Road after it had crashed.
The truck caught on fire and flames spread to nearby vegetation, prompting a response from Cal Fire.
Fire crews extinguished the fire, but Etta was pronounced dead. The sheriff's office said the suspected truck thief, a minor, was injured in the collision and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The minor was booked into the Butte County Juvenile Hall for manslaughter charges.
Anyone with information regarding the investigation is urged to contact the Butte County Sheriff's Office at 530-538-7671.
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