The Merced Sheriff’s Office received a call of a group of individuals smoking and selling marijuana in front of the Travel Center in the 15000 block of August Avenue in Delhi on December 9, 2010 at 4:00am. When deputies arrived, they found a mini van parked at gas pumps looking as if it was being worked on. Witnesses said two males ran off behind the store when deputies arrived.
According to Merced Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Tom MacKenzie, Kyle Clardy, 18 of Turlock, and a 16 year old male from Turlock were found hiding behind the Travel Center. Inside the van was a pair of bolt cutters, pliers, speakers, fishing poles and tackle. Clardy said he was at home when contacted by a friend to help get the van started. In the area where the two were hiding, deputies found a black bag containing personal items and ID cards to people living in Hilmar. When deputies checked, they discovered the items were stolen from a vehicle in front of their house.
Clardy said he had nothing to do with the theft but knew the items were stolen since the guy who asked for his help said he stole them in order to sell them. Also located on Clardy was a wallet which contained ID and items not belonging to him. Clardy said he ran since he knew the items were stolen but says he had nothing to do with the theft. The juvenile said he was spending the night at Clardy’s and didn’t know the items were stolen and only ran because Clardy ran and since he was staying with him figured he’d better run too. The mini van was registered out of Turlock and the owner is out of town for a week.
Both Clardy and the Juvenile was arrested on charges of possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal use of a credit card since they used the stolen card to put gas in the mini van. Clardy said the guy who called them left just prior to the deputies showing, but did not want to say who it was because he is afraid of him. The mini van was towed and will be released to the owner when he returns. If the van was stolen, they could be facing additional charges. The juvenile was booked into Juvenile Hall without bail; Clardy has already posted the $22,000 bail on the said charges.
