Friday, March 3rd a carjacking in our home city of Corona took place and resulted in shots fired. The suspect – later identified as LA county resident, Benjamin Gonzalez – carjacked a vehicle at the Shell gas station located on E. Ontario Ave, which is less than 2 miles away from Santiago High School. He is currently being held on $1 million bail in Riverside’s Robert Presley Detention Center. Police describe him as having a “violent criminal history” and has now been charged with carjacking, assault with a firearm, and evading a peace officer. 

Before 3 p.m. on Friday, police officers in Ontario contacted Corona P.D. asking for help to find a vehicle involved in a hit and run. A traffic stop on Ontario Ave. was conducted but was not successful due to the dangerous and reckless behaviors of the driver. 

Helicopters keeping watch overhead spotted the man entering the gas station where he confronted Joshua Ross, a 37-year-old middle school teacher, and stole his pickup truck. “He said, ‘Brother, I need that truck’ and I kind of looked at him like, ‘No man, you’re not getting my truck,” accounted Ross. Then the suspect took out his rifle and shot it in the air, indicating to Ross he wasn’t messing around. “He popped a round from his automatic rifle. It just … just made my heart race. It was so loud,” says Ross. 

The pursuit continued on through Orange and Los Angeles counties. The suspect fired multiple shots at law enforcement throughout the duration of the chase, with the first occurring around 3:30 and the next round around 3:50.

Undoubtedly the most nervewracking moment throughout the chase was when Gonzalez approached a group of children crossing the street after school in the Long Beach area. Thankfully he let the students safely cross before continuing to escape from the authorities, and nobody was harmed.

The chase finally came to an end in Harbor City, Los Angeles. The suspect crashed the stolen pickup truck into a pole and began to escape on foot – looking for another car to use. Law enforcement eventually apprehended the man, tackling him to the ground. Nobody was seriously injured.

New details released highlight the victim, Joshua Ross, and his girlfriend, Amanda Mallory. Mallory called Ross on Friday, expecting to hear him on the other end. It was his birthday, and the pair were planning to go to dinner to celebrate that night. But Ross was not the one who picked up the phone. Instead, it was the suspect, Benjamin Gonzalez. “I said, ‘Hi babe,’ and on the other end I hear an unfamiliar voice and they just tell me, ‘Sorry, I had to take your boyfriend or husband’s truck,'” accounted Mallory. Ross had left all belongings, including his phone, in the car when it was taken. 

Amanda Mallory remained on the phone with the man for over 30 minutes, doing her best to keep him on the line in order for his location to continuously be pinged. She is a teacher as well and talked to the suspect in a calm and understanding way, just like she would her students. But panic struck when Gonzalez approached the children crossing the street. Mallory says she “got into teacher mode” and said “’Don’t you dare, don’t you dare. If your kids watch this they need to know this is what you care about.” 

“She was a hero. I do truly believe once he was in certain situations he would have reacted differently had he not been talking to her,” says Ross. He is so grateful to have his life and that nobody was harmed.

There is a go-fund-me set up for Joshua Ross to help fund transportation to and from work, along with trauma counseling costs.