A man stole a Boulder Fire-Rescue engine right after being released from the Boulder County Jail on Wednesday morning. Officials recovered it in Longmont and arrested the man suspected of stealing it.

Richmond Takashi Johnson, 33, was arrested on two counts of felony motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding, resisting arrest, felony criminal mischief, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and prohibited driving after revocation, according to a city of Boulder news release.

Johnson remains in custody at the Boulder County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon, according to jail records.

Boulder Police are investigating the theft that took the truck from Boulder to Longmont and saw a Boulder County Sheriff’s deputy suffer a minor injury during a foot chase, according to a Boulder Police post on X. The truck itself was significantly damaged, as were three Sheriff’s Office vehicles, the city’s release states.

Police accused Johnson of stealing and driving away Boulder’s Engine 143, an electric firetruck, around 3:39 a.m., minutes after he was released from jail — at 3200 Airport Road in east Boulder — on a trespassing charge, the release states.

The truck is estimated to be worth $1.7 million, according to an arrest affidavit. The pursuit caused at least $25,000 in damagesto all four tires and the exterior of the engine, according to an affidavit.

Boulder Sheriff’s deputies first heard that a man got into the truck while first responders were evaluating someone at the jail on an unrelated medical call, according to an affidavit. When deputies got outside, the truck was already being driven away.

Law enforcement saw the truck at 34th Street and Valmont Road. The driver eluded police and drove south on Foothills Parkway before turning east on Arapahoe Avenue and then north on U.S. 287, which led him to Longmont. Johnson lost control of the engine after Longmont police officers used stop sticks and deflated its tires, bringing it to a stop around First Avenue and Main Street in Longmont, according to the release.

Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies also rammed the firetruck, while it was going between 50 and 70 mph, to try and bring it to a stop, according to the arrest affidavit. One deputy rammed the truck about 15 times, according to the affidavit.

It took three spike strip deployments to stop the truck, the affidavit states. The first two strips missed the engine.

Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies and Longmont officers arrested him around 4:14 a.m., after a brief foot chase when he jumped out of the engine and ran away, the release states. He made it into the middle of an apartment complex in the area, and Johnson said that the engine and its contents “belonged to him because of the ‘Lord,’” the affidavit states.

Johnson had been first released from the Boulder County Jail around 3:30 a.m., after being arrested on a third-degree trespassing charge in Boulder. He was jailed after a resident in the area of the 4500 block of 19th Street told police Johnson was knocking on her car door and trying to get inside, according to an arrest affidavit.

Johnson told police he was spreading the word of God and was thus compelled to be in the neighborhood speaking with people, the affidavit states. Boulder Police had told him to leave the neighborhood, but he was arrested after returning and going onto another person’s property.

Boulder Fire-Rescue officials are assessing the full extent of the damage done to the firetruck, the release states.

Prosecutors will ask for a secured bond when Johnson’s bail is set, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement.

“This defendant’s egregious, reckless actions put a lot of people at risk and caused significant damage,” Dougherty wrote.

Anyone with information related to the investigation into the theft and eluding is asked to contact Detective K. Euler at EulerK@bouldercolorado.gov or call 303-441-3393 regarding case 26-03696, the release asks.

Johnson was previously sentenced to two years in prison for a 2021 Denver County vehicular eluding with injury case, 10 days in jail for a 2020 Lincoln County driving under restraint case and pleaded guilty in a 2017 Arapahoe County driving under restraint case, according to online court records.

Boulder County Court Judge Jonathon P. Martin set Johnson’s bail at $100,000 cash or surety during a Wednesday afternoon advisement hearing.

Before setting bail, Johnson and Martin argued with one another because Johnson wouldn’t say he is representing himself out loud right after a public defender said so. After a back-and-forth, Martin turned away, asked the deputy DA what bail she was asking for and ordered it before she finished detailing the ask.

Martin did not ask Johnson what his request for the bail amount was, though he later said Johnson walked out of the courtroom at some point during the hearing. Johnson walking out of the courtroom was not visible on the court’s livestream.

Martin scheduled a return filing of charges for Johnson on Friday.

This is a developing story and may be updated.