Driver who stole U-Haul, led police on chase, identified

The driver of a stolen U-Haul could have rented the vehicle for just $19.95 a day. Instead, he faces a $55,000 bail for the crimes he is accused of committing Thursday night.

The U-Haul sped through the valley, and police said the driver shot at a Las Vegan’s vehicle and evaded officers until a patrol car rammed into it and stopped it.

The driver, Joseph Youmans, 28, and an unnamed passenger were caught in North Las Vegas.

A U-Haul employee who lives in Las Vegas recognized the truck as an “embezzled vehicle,” a vehicle rented, not returned and not yet reported missing to police. The employee followed the U-Haul from the intersection of Lamb Boulevard and Sahara Avenue and notified Metro of the pursuit at 9:09 p.m., Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Laura Meltzer said.

The employee later connected with a Metro officer but lost track of the U-Haul, she said.

The employee called Metro a second time, at 9:47 p.m., to report that he found the U-Haul again and that a man shot at his vehicle twice. The bullets struck the employee’s car, which became disabled on Charleston Boulevard near U.S. Highway 95 northbound, Meltzer said.

Police said Youmans sped toward downtown and drove erratically as he avoided officers who were trying to stop him. Air and K-9 units were requested to assist, Metro Lt. Rick Givens said.

A Metro helicopter followed the U-Haul as it traveled through the valley, looping through downtown near the Fremont Street Experience and then driving the wrong way onto Interstate 15 near Lake Mead Boulevard.

Police unsuccessfully tried to disable the vehicle with stop sticks near Craig Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard, Givens said at the scene Thursday.

A patrol unit then drove his police car into the driver’s side of the U-Haul, disabling it. That officer suffered minor injuries in the impact, but no one else was hurt during the pursuit, Givens said.

Youmans faces charges of discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle, discharging a gun from a vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon, disobeying a police officer/endangering other person or property and speeding. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on $55,000 bail.

The passenger in the U-Haul does not face any charges. He was interviewed by police and released, Metro said.

Court records show Youmans had minor traffic violations in Nevada and Ohio and an assault charge in Ohio from 2012.

At the time of the chase, Youmans had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to pay a January 2015 speeding ticket. When arrested at the scene of the U-Haul chase, he was served the warrant. His bail for the offense is $850.

U-Haul thefts are not uncommon, recent news reports suggest, but the vehicles are typically stolen for their contents. All of the belongings of a Henderson family were stolen when the U-Haul parked in front of their new home was taken in December, KTNV-TV, Channel 13, reported.

Earlier this month, the driver of a stolen U-Haul in Michigan led police in a chase in which the truck’s tires shredded away and sparks flew as the driver continued on just the rims, WLS-TV’s website reported.

Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lawrenlinehan.