Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested two gang members who led patrol units on a chase.
They are 23-year-old Michael Samanc and 28-year-old Desean Eades.
At 12:45 am on Wednesday, a K-9 deputy sheriff patrolling the Mayfair District noticed two men inside of a Toyota pickup matching the description of a stolen vehicle. He ran the license plate through a computer database while in the area of N. Cedar and E. Harvard Ave. and learned that the pickup was indeed reported stolen. The deputy attempted to make a traffic stop, however, the driver (Michael Samanc) sped away and caused a pursuit to be initiated. The deputy activated his emergency lights and sirens and pursued the suspects. The California Highway Patrol’s airplane, Air43, assisted from above as speeds reached between 50 – 70 mph. Samanc weaved through a neighborhood, across a homeowner’s front yard and raced down city streets. As deputies and Fresno Police officers closed in, Samanc crashed approximately four miles away at the intersection of Willow and Nevada Ave. Samanc and Eades got out of the truck and ran away. Deputies immediately got out of their vehicles and announced that K-9s were on scene and they could be bit if they did not surrender. Both suspects chose to ignore the warning. A deputy deployed his dog and K-9 Kajo chased down Samanc and bit him, which allowed a deputy to take him into custody.
Using the perimeter law enforcement had setup, deputies searched for the other suspect, Eades, who had hopped over a fence and ran. Eades was hiding under a vehicle in a nearby junkyard. He came out to try and run, but was met by K-9 Tango. Eades thought the better of it and gave up to the deputies who were standing by. Deputies searched inside the stolen pickup and found a loaded sawed-off shotgun, a knife, meth, marijuana, law enforcement gear and numerous burglary tools.
Samanc was booked into the Fresno County Jail on nearly a dozen felony charges. Some of those charges include: Vehicle theft, evading a peace officer, felon in possession of a firearm, drug possession and participation in a gang.
Eades is facing six felony charges. They include: Vehicle theft, felon in possession of a firearm, and participation in a gang. Both men have extensive criminal histories.
Anyone with information on these suspects is asked to please contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867).
You can watch video of the pursuit caught by the camera of CHP Air 43 by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxQ3VABLsI
