On Sunday, January 15th, 2023, at 1:19 am, a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputy near the intersection of W Main St and N Tully Rd, Turlock, observed a driver illegally pass another vehicle while traveling at a high rate of speed, so he attempted to make a traffic stop on him, however, he took off from the deputy and a pursuit ensued.

The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Rogelio Casillas, 22, of Ceres, went westbound on W Main St, turned off all of his vehicle’s lights, and began blowing through red lights at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. It was at that point that the pursuit was terminated for safety reasons.

Less than a minute after the pursuit was terminated, the deputy came across the vehicle on W Main St just east of S Washington Rd after it had been involved in a collision with a semi-truck and an orchard.

With the assistance of additional deputies, a high risk stop was conducted and Casillas was removed from his vehicle at gunpoint.

Casillas was detained and displayed objective symptoms of being under the influence.

Even though the collision occurred within the City of Turlock, the California Highway Patrol responded to handle it as the Turlock Police Department was busy handling an assault with a firearm that later turned into a homicide.

California Highway Patrol officers determined that Casillas was under the influence of alcohol, so he was arrested.

Casillas was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of flight from a peace officer with disregard to public safety and driving under the influence of alcohol. He was also issued an administrative driver’s license suspension order by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and his vehicle was impounded.

No specific information about injuries was released, however, it’s safe to say that no one besides Casillas was injured as he was not charged with felony DUI.