News

Arrest Made in February Madera County Murder

MADERA - Following a months-long investigation, Madera County Sheriff’s Detectives arrested two suspects for a February homicide on Avenue 9 in Madera County. Alan Gustavo Mendez has been charged with murder in the first degree. Bridy Juletzi Cruz Arzate has been charged as an accessory to murder.

On February 1, 2019 shortly before 8:00AM, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a call for service reporting a possible deceased individual located near an abandoned house in the 21000 block of Avenue 9 in Madera County. Deputies located a deceased male Hispanic adult, later identified as Sergio Lopez, a 30 year old South Gate, CA resident. Due to the nature of Lopez’s injuries, MCSO Detectives classified his death as a homicide. Detectives and CSI technicians recovered evidence from the scene and initiated an investigation.

Man Booked for Occupied Residential Burglary & Car Theft

CHOWCHILLA - On Saturday, August 10th, Officers from the Chowchilla Police Department were dispatched to a residence where an occupied burglary had just occurred, meaning the resident/occupants were present when the suspect made illegal entry. After a verbal exchange between the victim and suspect, it was determined the suspect stole keys from the residence and then took the victim’s car without consent.

The suspect fled the scene and the victim’s vehicle was later recovered in the City of Madera. Officers continued follow up investigation into the following day, when they received information that the suspect was in a local store in the city prior to this event. Officers responded to the store for follow up and when they entered the store, the suspect was inside the store again and fled from officers out the back door of the store.

CDCR Investigating Large-scale Riot at Correctional Training Facility

SOLEDAD – Officials are investigating a brief large-scale riot that occurred at 11:03 a.m. today on the Facility C recreation yard at Correctional Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad. The incident began when approximately 200 inmates began fighting on the yard. Responding staff immediately gave participants of the riot multiple orders to stop fighting. When they did not comply, staff deployed chemical agents, non-lethal weapons and discharged nine rounds from the state-issued Ruger Mini-14 rifle as warning shots to end the incident.

Once the warning shots were fired, one group of inmates immediately complied with the orders of responding staff, lying face down on the yard. Another group backed away from the complying inmates, but continued to ignore the orders of staff to lie down on the ground.

Madera County Proactive Traffic Stop Resulting in Pursuit and Felony Arrest

MADERA COUNTY - On August 3, 2019 around 12:45 a.m., Madera County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Vermeulen was at the stop light at CA-41 and CA-49 when he observed a U-Haul truck speed out of the Dyno Mart parking lot and drive over the center divider of north and south bound CA-41. When Deputy Vermeulen activated his lights and sirens to attempt to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle sped up and continued to travel along CA-41.

A pursuit reaching speeds up to 75 MPH traveled through the towns of Coarsegold and Raymond, eventually concluding in neighboring Merced County, approximately 68 miles in total. CHP Officers successfully deployed spike strips which deflated the vehicle’s front tires and caused the driver to come to a stop in the area of Q and 12th Streets in Merced. Merced County Sheriff’s Deputies subsequently took the driver, later identified as John Nevis, a 22-year-old Oakhurst resident, into custody without further incident.

15-Year-Old Victim of 'Hit n Run' Still Recovering but Now with a High Profile Attorney on Her Side

MADERA – The 15-year-old Madera South High School girl who was the victim of a devastating 'hit n run' while she was walking in a crosswalk on June 14^th has retained a Los Angeles law firm to represent her against the man who left her for dead after running her over on Olive Avenue in Madera.

According to the Madera Police Department, former boxer and owner of VFF (Valley Family Fitness) In-Home Fitness, Paul Cano (27) of Fresno failed to remain at the scene and render aid to the young lady or notify police of the accident after he struck the young lady with his 2016 Hyundai Elantra.

Merced Couple Operating Dark Web Vendor Accounts “Best Buy Meds,” “Trap Mart” and “House Of Dank” Plead Guilty

SACRAMENTO - Jabari Monson, 32, of Merced, California, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute controlled substances, and Saudia Monson, 39, also of Merced, pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Travel Act, using the mail and internet to distribute controlled substances, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, from July 2018 through January 2019, Jabari Monson and Saudia Monson operated several vendor accounts on the dark-web marketplace Dream Market, through which they sold cocaine, cocaine base, methamphetamine, and marijuana.

North Valley Resident Convicted of 21 Counts of “H-1B” Visa Fraud and Two Counts of Aggravated Identity Theft

SACRAMENTO - A federal jury convicted Abhijit Prasad, 52, of Tracy, of 21 counts of visa fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft today. The case originated in Sacramento when the grand jury there indicted Prasad in 2016, but the case was ultimately tried in San Francisco following a court order transferring the case there. U.S. Attorney David Anderson for the Northern District of California and U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott for the Eastern District of California made the announcement.

According to the evidence at trial, Prasad filed 19 petitions for H-1B nonimmigrant visas containing false statements, made under penalty of perjury, as to purported work projects to be performed at locations in California, including Cisco Systems. The evidence at trial showed that Cisco had no expectation that the foreign workers who were the beneficiaries of the visa petitions would actually work at Cisco on an existing work project. The evidence at trial further showed that the defendant knowingly submitted forged Cisco documents to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in support of his claims that the beneficiaries would work at Cisco.