By Andy Furillo and Bill Lindelof
afurillo@sacbee.com
Two men have been booked on murder charges for the Nevada County death of a suspected pot robber who was killed when he crashed his truck into a tree while trying to get away from scene of the heist, authorities said today.
Nevada County sheriff's officials identified the man who died in the Saturday morning crash as Timothy Daniel Fitzpatrick, 43, a concrete contractor who lived and worked in Elk Grove.
Accused of murder in his death are Terry A. McLeod, 51, of Sacramento, and Christopher T. Teachout, 32, of North San Juan, in Nevada County.
Investigators say McLeod had teamed up with Fitzpatrick to rob a ranch house on Tobacco Road near North San Juan of "a large quantity" of marijuana, cash, computer equipment and cell phones and was with him as a passenger when they crashed into the tree on Highway 49 near Sauer Lane.
Authorities identified Teachout as one of four victims who were bound at the wrists by the two men who broke into the North San Juan Ranch house. Officials say Teachout managed to free himself and then give chase in his pickup along the hillside roads, eventually catching up with Fitzpatrick's Ford 250 pickup truck and ramming it twice - with the second bump sending the vehicle into its fatal crash.
Sheriff Keith Royal said that the occupants of Fitzpatrick's truck twice tried to shoot Teachout's oncoming vehicle during the chase. A handgun and a shotgun were found in or near Fitzpatrick's vehicle, authorities said.
Royal said deputies found $4,000 in cash in the large plastic bags containing the marijuana that were stolen from the North San Juan location.
"The victims are saying (the money) wasn't theirs," Royal said today.
Sheriff's department officials said the incident began when suspects believed to be Fitzpatrick and McLeod robbed a home on Tobacco Road. Wearing ski masks, fake police uniforms and declaring themselves members of a drug task force, the suspects are believed to have burst into a ranch house with guns drawn. They handcuffed four people who were inside the residence, authorities said.
The suspects fled south from North San Juan on Highway 49, Royal said.
About six miles from Tobacco Road, Fitzpatrick lost control of his truck and it slammed into a tree on Highway 49 near Sauer Lane.
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.
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