California man found guilty in shootout with CHP officer, faces 80 years in prison

Michael McGough
·2 min read
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A man who engaged in a shootout with a California Highway Patrol officer last year following a high-speed chase faces more than 80 years in prison after being found guilty this week of attempted murder.

CHP Officer Ryan Lambert attempted a speeding stop Jan. 16, 2022, on Aaron Tobias Quinn on Oro Dam Boulevard when Quinn failed to stop, leading Lambert on a 22-mile chase through Brownsville, the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Quinn crashed into a power pole on La Porte Road, exited his vehicle and immediately opened fire on Lambert using a semiautomatic pistol, prosecutors wrote.

Lambert returned fire, wounding Quinn on the top of his head, authorities said. Quinn then barricaded himself in his vehicle, leading to a standoff with the CHP and other law enforcement agencies including Yuba and Butte counties’ sheriff’s offices as well state park rangers.

Quinn was ultimately detained and transported by ambulance to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. His injuries were described as “major,” authorities said at the time.

A Yuba County jury on Tuesday found Quinn guilty of attempted murder, reckless evasion, transporting methamphetamine for sale and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Lambert was not struck by gunfire. Investigators determined Quinn fired six rounds at the officer, at least three of which struck his patrol vehicle, according to the D.A.’s news release. Quinn’s pistol jammed during the gunfight.

The shootout was probed by an officer-involved shooting investigation team led by the district attorney’s offices of Yuba and Sutter counties. No video was captured during the incident. Prosecutors wrote that forensic evidence at the scene, including bullet and shell casing analysis, corroborated Lambert’s testimony on the shootout.

Quinn, 46, has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1995, court records show. The Oroville resident was convicted for a 2007 incident in which he used his Ford F-250 pickup to ram the vehicle of Oroville’s police chief at the time, pinning and injuring Chief Mitch Brown. Quinn was sentenced to more than nine years in prison after being convicted of assault, vehicle theft and evasion.

Due to two prior strikes from the 2007 incident, Quinn faces a maximum of 81 years to life in prison for the latest conviction. He is scheduled for sentencing on March 3.