At about 1:14am Wednesday morning, Turlock Police responded to a prowler in the 1700 block of Bryce Avenue, after a caller had reported hearing noises and then seeing someone running through their backyard.

Officer Schell arrived on scene and began checking the area, being flagged down by a man at Logan Lane and Fulkerth Road.

The man was making incoherent statements and displayed objective symptoms of being under the influence of drugs. He was identified as Benny Salas, 33, of Merced.

Officers contact a woman at a residence in the 1600 block of Logan Lane, who stated that Salas had gone into her vehicle without her consent and tampered with its contents.

When officers attempted to handcuff Salas, he refused to comply with orders and began resisting. Salas’s resistance was eventually overcome and he was able to be placed in handcuffs, however, he continued to resist and refuse to get into a patrol vehicle, climbing up onto it instead.

Salas eventually fell to the ground and continued resisting, getting on an officer’s foot and knocking another officer’s body-worn camera off.

Additional officers arrived on scene and assisted with placing Salas in a WRAP restraint device.

Salas was transported to a local hospital for medical clearance. Afterwards, he was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of resisting a peace officer with violence, tampering with a vehicle or its contents, theft, and resisting a peace officer.