Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office press release:

On 12-7-2013, approximately 9:00 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the theft of a vehicle from a garage on Akerman Lane, Carlotta. The victim told the investigating deputy he exited his home at 6:30 a.m. on 12-07-13 and noticed his garage door was open and his forest green 2011 Jeep Wrangler, California Plate 6PZA957 was missing. The victim also saw his truck which had been parked in front of his residence had been ransacked, and his garage door opener was missing. The victim had parked his Jeep in his garage the evening before and closed the garage door.

On 12-12-2013, atapproximately 12:00 p.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was notified of an assault with a vehicle which just occurred in the 5400 block of Highway 36, Carlotta. A deputy and California Highway Patrol officer responded to the scene. When the investigating deputy met with the 36 year old male victim and witnesses, he learned the Jeep that was stolen on 12-7-2013, was the vehicle involved. The victim told the deputy he was working on a private driveway that leads to several residences in the 5400 block of Highway 36. The victim was aware of the stolen 2011 Jeep Wrangler, because it belonged to a friend. The victim saw the Wrangler drive past the location where he was working. He called his friend and confirmed the license plate and that it was still stolen. The victim saw the Jeep park in the driveway of a nearby residence. The victim had a co-worker call 911 to report finding the stolen Jeep, while the victim drove his Ford 350 truck to where the Jeep parked and attempted to block it in until law enforcement could arrive.

When the victim started to block the Jeep in, the driver of the Jeep put it in reverse and rammed the victim’s truck to escape. The Jeep rammed the victim’s truck, and also struck an unoccupied parked 2008 Nissan Altima and a tree before fleeing the area.

The victim was uninjured; however, his truck and the Altima sustained several thousand dollars in damage. Deputies located witnesses who also saw the intentional ramming.

Deputies learned during their investigation, the person driving the stolen Jeep was identified as Danny Ray Fidler, 40 years old. Fiddler has an outstanding felony warrant for his arrest for violation of Post Community Release Supervision. He is also on felony probation for stealing a vehicle, fleeing a police officer and transportation of a controlled substance.

A be-on-the-lookout for the Jeep and Fidler was issued to area wide law enforcement. Besides the arrest warrant, Fiddler is wanted for assault with a deadly weapon, felony vandalism, possession of stolen property and violation of probation.

Danny Ray Fiddler is described as follows: White male adult, 40 years old, brown hair, hazel eyes, 5‘8” tall, 130 lbs. He has several tattoos on both arms.

Anyone with information for the Sheriffs Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriffs Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriffs Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.