At about 8:09pm Wednesday night, Officer La Cruz recognized a vehicle from a recent be-on-the-lookout bulletin violate the California Vehicle Code near N. Golden State Boulevard and Fulkerth Road, so he made a traffic stop on it.
The be-on-the-lookout bulletin was issued as a result of a shoplifting incident that had occurred from Dick’s Sporting Goods in the 2700 block of Countryside Drive on Wednesday, November 22nd, at 4:03pm.
During the incident, a man had walked out of the business with arms full of items. An off-duty officer was at the business at the time and followed the man out to his vehicle, where he was able to obtain a partial license plate number.
Officers had arrived at the business and met with employees, who told them that the man had stolen about a dozen or so jackets, with the total value of them being about $2,000. The manager stated that she would be able to positively identify the man if she saw him again.
De La Cruz made contact with and identified the vehicle’s two occupants. The driver, Carly Martin, 29, of Oakdale, gave De La Cruz her identification card, while the passenger, Jarred Elkins, 29, of Turlock, gave De La Cruz his brother’s name, who was five years younger than him.
Elkins was removed from the vehicle to be interviewed in regards to the shoplifting incident.
As De La Cruz was about to handcuff Elkins, he took off running. De La Cruz chased Elkins and gave him multiple lawful orders to stop, but he failed to comply. Elkins was eventually able to be taken into custody at Donnelley Park. He was returned back to the traffic stop location.
During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers located narcotics, Elkins’ driver’s license which helped in properly identifying him, and some stolen property.
De La Cruz had his dispatcher run Elkins and he returned with three felony warrants and two misdemeanor warrants, with their total bail coming out to $827,715. The charges from the several warrants were robbery, vandalism, animal abuse, attempted burglary, burglary, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a sedative, and shoplifting.
Martin and Elkins were both arrested.
Martin was released on a citation on the charge of receiving stolen property.
Officers called the manager of Dick’s who stated that she was still working and available for an in-field show-up. Being that Elkins was already under arrest, he was transported to Dick’s where he was positively identified by the manager as the shoplifter.
Elkins was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of false personation, obstructing or resisting a peace officer, and grand theft, as well as his warrants.
