On Sunday, March 26th, 2023, at 12:14 pm, Turlock Police officers arrived at a residence in the 800 block of Ashton Ct, Turlock, to conduct follow-up in a robbery investigation.

The officers spotted their suspect, Francisco Ibarra, 44, of Turlock, who they had a $150,000 felony Ramey warrant on for robbery, elder abuse or endangerment under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death, and fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death to another person.

Ibarra did not want to surrender, however, one of the officers there was coincidentally a member of the department’s Hostage Negotiation Team. The officer spoke with Ibarra and was able to get him to surrender without incident.

Ibarra was arrested and taken to the Turlock Police Department for questioning. Afterward, he was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on his warrant.

The incident that Ibarra had a warrant for had occurred on Monday, January 25th, 2021.

Ibarra had arrived at the Bank of the West on Fulkerth Rd in a gray BMW sedan and parked it near an automated teller machine that was being used by an elderly woman. After the woman had withdrawn her cash, Ibarra had approached her, thrown her to the ground, and taken her cash along with her purse.

Ibarra then got into his vehicle and began fleeing the area when he struck a second woman who was attempting to intervene. The woman suffered moderate non-life-threatening injuries.

Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers received three tips after featuring the incident. One of the tips led detectives to the BMW used in the crime. The BMW was processed and evidence of the crime was located. The evidence was submitted to the California Department of Justice for DNA processing, with hopes of being able to identify the suspect.

This month, a DNA match indicated Ibarra was the suspect.

“With the assistance of the Department of Justice, the residents who provided the tips, and the use of modern technology, we were finally able to bring this criminal to justice,” said Turlock Police Detective Jason Tosta. “I hope the arrest of Ibarra will bring some sort of closure to the victims in this case for all they had to endure. Staff is committed to solving crimes such as these and holding criminals accountable for their actions, no matter how long it takes,” he continued.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist in it is encouraged to call Detective Jason Tosta at 209-664-7324.