Josue Ocampo, 18, can't believe what happened to his pride and joy.
"That was my first car and now it's ruined."
He purchased the Mercury Mariner with his savings that included wages from a roofing job three years ago.
"I worked hard," he said. "I worked hard for it."
Ocampo says he was about to drive away from his home on Cereza Street when he saw a red Camaro suddenly stop behind him along with a line of police patrol cars.
"When I looked back, cops were already running with guns on them."
That's when the Camaro started moving forward again.
Ocampo saw his neighbor's child standing nearby and was afraid the child was going to get hurt.
"I was going to put my car, everything on the line so they can't go through," he said.
The Camaro moved too quickly, squeezing between the SUV and a Toyota Corolla. The force popped off Ocampo’s front bumper while scraping the side of the Corolla.
But the Camaro driver and passengers didn't get far because the collision caused the vehicle’s airbags to activate.
Four people inside took off running, but officers quickly grabbed the male driver and two female passengers.
Police used a helicopter and two K-9's to search for a male suspect who was seen running into a dry creekbed.
It turns out the Camaro was carjacked by gunpoint a day earlier in Murietta.
Ocampo was glad he helped police recover it even though his pride and joy looks like this.
"I don't care about cars or nothing, I just care about the kids, luckily nobody got hurt," Ocampo said.