This week’s edition of the Weekly Lowlights focuses on the choices Turlock’s criminal element makes – and the fact that criminals shouldn’t become angry for ending up in weekly lowlights.
The simple truth is that TurlockCityNews.com writes stories about lots of people doing good things in the community. But if you do ridiculous things and end up arrested, there is a good chance you’ll end up in Weekly Lowlights.
Speaking of one person’s ridiculous choice, on Feb. 17 Alexandra Elliot, 24, was arrested and cited for allegedly brandishing an imitation firearm after being involved in a road rage incident near the intersection of Geer Road and W. Hawkeye Avenue at 3:29 p.m. Sure, lots of people get involved in road rage incidents. The one that always gets my goat is when you’re driving and then someone cuts you off and doesn’t even have the courtesy to speed up. But the difference between Elliot and most people is she flashed her toy gun at the other driver, while most people, at the very most, might throw their hands up or even flip the old bird in extreme situations.
It is unknown what kind of toy gun Elliot flashed, but speculation persists it was an elaborate Super Soaker.
The next arrest has a lot of do with bad luck, but ultimately has more to do with bad choices. At 1:04 p.m. on Feb. 19, Turlock police attempted to make a vehicle stop. But the driver, Robert Hernandez, 32, took off on foot and hid in a detached garage of a residence in the 300 block of Angelus Street. As officers attempted to apprehend Hernandez, they happened to find a marijuana grow inside the garage.
Pedro Gil, 27, who was identified as the owner of the marijuana grow, must have heard the commotion in the garage and he came outside to investigate. Police say Gil began to interfere with Hernandez’s arrest, and when officers turned their attention on Gil, Hernandez took off again on foot. This time he was handcuffed. Of course he was caught a block away. Hernandez was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, and he happened to have an active felony warrant for robbery out of Ceres. Gil was arrested for marijuana cultivation.
While this may seem as a case of bad luck for Gil, ultimately he made the alleged choice to grow marijuana in his garage, and then try and interfere with police nabbing a fleeing suspect.
On the same day, at 3:30 a.m., Shannon Sobaszkiewitcz, 26, was arrested for felony vandalism after she allegedly caused major damage to a victim’s vehicle in the 400 block of Clifford Avenue. It is unclear what damage she did, but its unlikely it was a prank like wrapping the car in plastic so the doors can’t open, which is a hilarious prank if you’ve never done it. Oh, also if your friend leaves their doors unlocked, you can put an open can of tuna under a seat. If it’s summer that smell will become pretty bad after a day or so. Great prank, not sure if its felonious in nature, though.
On Feb. 14 Kortney Blevins, 26, was arrested for DUI in the 2600 block of Geer Road at 1:45 a.m. Blevins’ passenger, Michael Neky, 29, was also intoxicated and was arrested for public intoxication. Both were booked. The bad choice here was to catch a ride with a friend who was drunk, which evidently Neky didn’t learn during those formative high school and college years.
Later than morning, at just before 3:30 a.m., Moises Serna, 36, was arrested and booked after being found by police in allegedly illegal possession of Xanax at Motel 6. Prescription drug abuse is a bad choice, and is actually a rapidly growing problem in Turlock.
On Feb. 13 at 3:21 a.m. police attempted to contact Hector Lomeli, 33, at the scene of a disturbance near the intersection of Olive and Starr avenues. Lomeli chose to ignore police commands and he fled the scene on his bicycle. As he was riding away, he allegedly discarded a glass pipe. He was caught, arrested and booked for resisting arrest, possession of methamphetamine and destruction of evidence.
Earlier on Feb. 13, at just after 12 midnight, Sony Sandhu, 37, was called in by a witness who reported Sandhu as being drunk and yelling profanities. He was arrested and booked for public intoxication in the 3000 block of Linfield Court. His bad choice was clearly not using more productive words to communicate his emotions.
