Around 4:30 Monday morning, the California Highway Patrol and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office received information of a stolen Ford work pickup being in the area of E. Shaw Ave. and N. Zediker Ave. near Clovis.
The owner of the stolen truck used a GPS system to track his vehicle to this location. A CHP officer who responded saw the headlights of a vehicle exiting a nearby citrus grove. As the officer got closer, he discovered two vehicles leaving, one was a Ford Ranger pickup and behind it was the stolen commercial pickup. The CHP officer attempted to stop the vehicles, but both suspects failed to listen to his commands. The suspects performed some sort of action which caused the officer to fear for his safety, so he fired several rounds from his gun in their direction. The driver of the Ford Ranger was taken into custody, meanwhile, the driver of the stolen Ford pickup ran away. Officers and deputies immediately conducted a ground and air search of the area, but the second suspect was not found. The outstanding suspect was later identified as 19-year-old Levi Young of Fresno.
A responding sheriff’s deputy transported the arrested suspect, 40-year-old Pasquale Desantis, to Community Regional Medical Center after he complained of pain. It’s unknown if he or the outstanding suspect were struck by any bullets.
At around 11:00 am, an alert citizen reported seeing a man, matching a description of suspect Levi Young, walking in the area of Ashlan Ave. and Zediker Ave. Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers responded and contacted the man. It was determined to be Young and he was arrested without incident.
The CHP officer who fired his gun has almost 10 years of experience and was not injured during the incident. The Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency investigating the OIS. CHP is also conducting its own independent investigation.
Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to please contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or call Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867).
