By Michael Apfel
MODESTO, CA – Despite defense protestations, Judge Carrie Stephens found sufficient evidence in a felony auto theft case to proceed to trial following a preliminary examination this week in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Matthew Medina, a special agent with the California Department of Corrections, said he was notified in May of 2021 about an escaped inmate who was serving a sentence at Acton Conservation Camp in Los Angeles.
Medina said the accused left the institution without permission during his sentence, adding, “We started in Oakland, CA…looking for him because he had some family connections there, but ultimately we conducted surveillance in Ceres, CA before we apprehended him.”
The search lasted about three days. The accused had escaped the prison around May 15, 2021, and was apprehended May 20, 2021. The accused was located at a mobile home facility Colony Park, driving a 2006 Nissan Altima.
The vehicle was reported previously as a stolen vehicle out of Palmdale, CA, May 17, 2021. The vehicle was stolen from a Red Roof Inn in Palmdale and contained about $10,000 of plumbing tools and the citizen’s wallet. The insurance company totaled the vehicle’s worth at $3,500.
The tools and wallet were never recovered. The citizen found drugs and an inmate’s uniform in his car when he recovered it in Stanislaus County.
On cross-examination, the defense attorney asked the special agent about the citizen’s knowledge of the accused and the circumstances of the car theft. Medina stated that he interviewed the man, who told the special agent about a car key underneath the vehicle. Medina never obtained surveillance footage of the hotel parking lot.
After this examination concluded, the prosecution called Deputy David Horne to the witness stand. Horne found the accused in the vehicle in question May 19, 2021, noting, “I noticed a gray Nissan Altima that lacked rear reflective paint and the real license plate, so I attempted to conduct a traffic stop.”
The traffic stop was conducted in a marked patrol vehicle with lights and sirens, and Horne was wearing his sheriff’s uniform. While attempting to detain the accused, Horne turned on the vehicle’s flashing lights, but the accused allegedly did not yield.
Horne testified that the accused attempted to flee the scene, driving approximately 77 mph in a 45-mph zone. During the pursuit, Horne stated the accused failed to stop at two stop lights.
Medina was called once again to the witness stand following Horne’s testimony, and testified to an interview he had with the accused at the Ceres Police Department where the accused allegedly told him he was in a car chase with deputies.
“He admitted he got in a car chase with sheriff’s deputies,” Medina said. “He talked about how one of the deputies threw out a spike trip, and he maneuvered around it and got away.”
Medina added the accused told the special agent that he escaped prison to visit his mother who had cancer and was going through dialysis.
Medina stated the accused admitted he was recently upset being in prison because he did not have access to a phone. The accused, testified Medina, ultimately admitted to escaping prison and being involved in the unlawful chase.
Despite the defense’s efforts to show reasonable doubt, Judge Stephens found there was sufficient cause to believe the accused was guilty of four felony vehicle violations involved with the theft and evasion of law enforcement.
Arraignment and trial setting is Dec. 27, 2022, in Dept. 4 of Stanislaus County Superior Court.
