Local News

CHP Officer Shoots Unarmed Man Following Carjacking: Officer Involved in Federal Excessive Force Lawsuit

MADERA COUNTY – Sunday afternoon a California Highway Patrol officer shot an unarmed man on Avenue 12 just behind the Branch & Vine Barn, an event venue where a kids party attended by approximately 100 people was taking place. CHP were in the area responding to a carjacking that took place at a gas station at Avenue 15 and Highway 41 when the officer noticed the stolen vehicle crashed approximately three miles from the carjacking on Avenue 12.

The man, described only as Hispanic and wearing all black, was covered in dirt and alternating walking and running west. ”The suspect was actively attempting to evade law enforcement officers as California Highway Patrol Officers and an Air Unit pursued him”, said Madera County Sheriff’s spokesman Kayla Serratto in a prepared press release.

Monday’s Solar Eclipse Educational Opportunity for 5th Graders But Other Students Left Indoors

MADERA – The first total solar eclipse in the continental United States in nearly 40 years will take place on Monday morning starting at 9:03am and ending at 11:41am with the most peak of the eclipse to take place at 10:17am.

The entire event will last over two and a half hours. While we here in the Central Valley will not have a total eclipse in this area, the sun will be covered by 75% of totality by the moon at the apex of the event and will not be safe to look at with the naked eye in the Central Valley at any time.

Detectives Uncover 23 lbs. of Meth Hidden in Car

SELMA - Detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit have arrested 27 year old Osmar Jimenez-Pena of Fresno. He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail on felony charges of possessing drugs for sale, transporting drugs for sale and using a false compartment. His bail is set at $170,000.

Around 7:45 pm on Thursday, Fresno County Sheriff’s narcotics detectives made a traffic stop on a 2004 Ford Mustang. This occurred in the area of Manning and McCall Avenues in Selma. Detectives contacted the driver, Osmar Jimenez-Pena. During a search of the car, detectives discovered a hidden compartment and inside they found individual packages of methamphetamine totaling 23 pounds.

Deputies Arrest Man Who Fled in Stolen Car

FRESNO - Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested 41 year old Ruben James Zapata of Fresno. He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail. He is facing felony charges of: Auto theft, evading police, hit and run and possession of methamphetamine. He has an extensive criminal history and was arrested just last month, but was released from jail after bailing out.

Around 12:45 pm on Friday, a resident reported to the Sheriff’s Office that an unknown man had been parked in front of an apartment complex the last two hours, the engine to his car was running and it looked like he may be passed out. Deputies arrived to the area of N. Glenn and E. Gettysburg Avenues and found the reported red Dodge Challenger parked with a man in the driver’s seat.

Property Detectives Arrest Woman for Embezzling School Funds

FRESNO - Property detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office have arrested 38 year old Jennifer Isabel Rodriguez of Fresno. She has been booked into the Fresno County Jail on a felony charge of embezzlement. During the 2016-17 school year, Jennifer Rodriguez was a temporary employee of the Fresno Unified School District.

In one of her roles at Powers-Ginsburg Elementary, she ran a parent foundation which conducted several fundraising events. Money raised from the events was to be used to buy school supplies for students. Information was developed that Rodriguez may have been stealing the money. Fresno Unified attempted to resolve the situation with Rodriguez, but was unable to do so. The district later filed a crime report with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.