Military vehicle involved in SLO County pursuit reported stolen

Many people in Los Osos have told me they've seen the man or his vehicle out and about throughout the week, but I spoke with the clerk here at the Chevron gas station just off of Los Osos Valley Road who tells me a little bit about her bizarre interaction that she had with the man prior to the incident. 63-year-old Patrick Kevin Van Ness was taken into custody on Wednesday evening after driving onto the beach at Montana De Oro. He said I'm ex-military, I'm ex-navy, and if anybody gets in my way, I'm gonna kill him. Dan, who didn't want to share his last name over safety concerns, was driving home from work when he pulled over on the side of the road to offer help to an unfamiliar vehicle. He says Van Ness told him his vehicle broke down and needed gas. And I asked him, where are you staying? He said, I'm living in my car. I told him, well you can't just be staying in your car around here, it's against the law. I said, we do have campgrounds down by the South Bay, and at that point he started to get, just he started acting crazy. Erica Esparza, a clerk at the Los Osos Valley liquor store, also had a weird interaction with Van Ness when he tried getting gas. Leather vest and without a shirt. I was like, I can't believe this guy is driving that. It's weird. I expect to see some soldiers or something else, but not him. After trying to pay for gas with the car that kept getting declined, she says he started pacing the floors back and forth. I was ready to go in my Nacy's because of a gun or something. On Wednesday, the sheriff's office was told about a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot off Los Osos Valley Road. It was described as a military tractor trailer, and as soon as the officers arrived, Van Ness fled to Montana De Oro State Park. We got like a batch of cop cars driving by, which cop cars drive by like sometimes, but they're not usually in a batch like that. So we were like, huh, that's weird. He reportedly broke through the gate and ended up on the beach. Law enforcement set up their vehicles around the truck trying to get Van Ness to come out. He was eventually taken into custody after authorities deployed tear gas into the vehicle. It seemed generally that people were okay in the surrounding areas, which I'm glad. I'm glad for that. And according to the sheriff's office, Van Ness is facing charges of felony evasion and destruction to public property in relation to the incident. In Los Osos, Mackenzie Diaz, KSBY News.