Modesto police nab auto theft suspect

MODESTO -- A Modesto police officer dispatched at 5:18 a.m. Sunday to take a stolen-vehicle report spotted the vehicle en route and helped arrest a suspect, police said.

Sgt. Derrick Tyler said the officer saw the vehicle at Tully Road and Standiford Avenue. Tyler said he believes the vehicle was a van.

The officer turned around and pursued the vehicle, following it south on Tully and then west on Briggsmore Avenue. The vehicle then headed west on Briggsmore's eastbound lanes before stopping; the driver ran into a neighborhood south of Briggsmore.

The pursuit lasted about a minute. Police set up a perimeter in the neighborhood, but a resident in the 1400 block of Pepperwood Drive called police to report that a man was on his roof.

Tyler said the man, believed to have been the vehicle's driver, was taken into custody.

Tyler said Daniel Sherman, 36, who is homeless, was booked at the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of auto theft, evading police, possession of stolen property and violating his probation.

Tyler said Sherman had two outstanding felony warrants.