Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The statute of limitations will not protect him from criminal charges if criminal charges are filed within the statute. Alternatively the owner of the Ford and the trailer can sue in civil court but that question will have to go to a civil litigator.

Mr. Shapiro is right that the owners could sue in civil court. There are statute of limitations for civil cases too, but those statutes are tolled while the defendant is outside California. In other words, the clock stops ticking when he leaves the state and re-starts when he returns. If there was still, say, six months left in which to sue him when he left for Mexico, there would still be six months left when he returned years later.

I don't know offhand if criminal limitations periods are tolled when the defendant leaves the state. But even if they aren't, all the prosecutor must do before the statute expires is to file a criminal complaint. If it was filed on time, the case would not become time-barred if the defendant evaded service for years afterward, whether by leaving the U.S. or by other means.