At about 8:20pm Thursday, Turlock Police, Merced County Sheriffs, and Stanislaus County Sheriffs arrived at a residence in the 2900 block of N. Waring Road in Denair to conduct follow-up in several robbery investigations.
Turlock City News previously reported that during the afternoon of Thursday, January 25th, Turlock Police had responded to a hold-up alarm at F&M Bank in the 2300 block of Geer Road.
While officers were enroute, they got a call from the bank reporting an attempted armed robbery had just occurred.
The suspect reportedly fled the scene eastbound on E. Tuolumne Road on a white dirt bike with no license plates attached to it.
He was described as a light-complexion Hispanic male in his twenties with light brown hair, standing 5′ 10″ tall, weighing 120lbs. He was last seen wearing a black full ski mask, big black puffer jacket, black gloves, and light blue jeans.
Officers checked the area, but were unable to locate anything.
An officer who was on duty at the time but not on the call heard the description and recognized it to be similar to another armed robbery the sheriff’s office had responded to just two days prior.
During the early morning hours of Tuesday, January 23rd, Stanislaus County Sheriffs had responded to an armed robbery that had just occurred at the Quik Stop in the 4200 block of Main Street in Denair.
When deputies had arrived on scene, they learned that a masked suspect with a firearm had demanded money from the clerk, before fleeing the scene with an undisclosed amount of money, also on a white dirt bike with no plates.
No injuries were reported during either of the two incidents.
During the course of the Turlock investigation, detectives were able to identify Jose Elizalde, 29, of Denair, as their suspect. They also learned that Elizalde was associated with another robbery Merced County Sheriffs were investigating.
Turlock Police and Merced County Sheriff’s detectives worked together to obtain felony Ramey warrants for Elizalde.
The charge on Turlock’s warrant was attempted robbery.
While at the Waring address, Elizalde was located and arrested without incident.
Elizalde was booked into the Merced County Sheriff’s Main Jail on his warrants.
Stanislaus County Sheriffs have yet to confirm if Elizalde was associated with the Denair Quik Stop robbery. He hasn’t been charged with it yet.
“We would like to thank Merced County Sheriff’s Department and the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department for their prompt assistance on the apprehension of Elizalde,” said Turlock Police Spokeswoman Dominique Sanchez. “Together, we keep our communities safe.”
The investigations remain ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist in the Turlock investigation is encouraged to call Detective Kevin Blanc at 209-668-6540.
