A long way home, indeed

An 85-year-old Newcastle man ended up 400 miles away in Los Angeles over the weekend when he became confused on the freeway and just kept driving, the California Highway Patrol reported.

"You hear about this kind of thing happening from time to time," CHP Officer Kelly Baraga said. "We're just glad it had a happy ending."

The happy ending was brought about by some quick thinking by CHP officers, who formed a sort of motorized bucket brigade to get the man back home.

Officers from the CHP's Newhall office found the man stranded on the side of Interstate 5 in Sylmar in Los Angeles County after his 1995 Nissan pickup truck ran out of gas Saturday, Baraga said.

They had his truck stored and then relayed him back to Newcastle by driving him from one field office to another on the northward journey to Placer County.

"The CHP went the extra mile for him – or, in this case, 400 miles," Baraga said.

An officer left Newhall with the elderly passenger at 5:15 p.m. Saturday and went to the office in Fort Tejon, where another officer picked up the relay, she said.

The relay route included Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno, Merced, Tracy, south Sacramento, North Sacramento and Newcastle, she said.

The man reached home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Baraga said the Newcastle resident, who is not being named by The Bee to protect his privacy, became lost late Saturday morning.

He had driven from his home to the former McClellan Air Force Base in North Highlands in Sacramento County but became disoriented on his way back.

His trip from Sacramento to Newhall and back was estimated at 18 hours, Baraga said.

She said she asked the man if he had noticed freeway signs with the words "Los Angeles" on them as he drove south.

"He said he didn't understand them," she said.

Baraga learned about the incident Thursday when the man came into the CHP's office in Newcastle to find out how he could get his truck back.

Baraga traced the truck to the Newhall office. Officials there filled her in on the man's ordeal.

Baraga said she also discovered that it would cost $2,000 for the storage yard to have the truck towed back to Newcastle.

When Baraga mentioned the situation to a mechanic at her office, he told her of a Sacramento company that tows vehicles to Los Angeles and often returns without another vehicle.

A check found that the company had sent a truck to Los Angeles that would be returning empty-handed.

The company said it could tow the elderly man's truck back for $900.

"So we're having them do that," she said.

Once he gets his truck back, it's not certain he'll be able to use it. The Newhall CHP office has asked the state Department of Motor Vehicles to re-evaluate the man's ability to drive safely, Baraga said.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Art Campos can be reached at (916) 773-2825.