CHP officer and suspect involved in Keyes Road shooting ID’d

The California Highway Patrol officer and the suspect he shot at the Keyes Road overpass at Highway 99 on March 15 have been identified.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, which is conducting one of the investigations of the shooting, said Officer Edgardo Yepez has been with the Modesto CHP office for one year.

The man shot is 21-year-old Francisco Hurtado, residence unknown, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Anthony Bejaran. “He was arrested for evading a peace officer, threatening a peace officer and carrying a loaded firearm in public.”

Detectives are not releasing any further details of the investigation at this time, Bejaran said.

At the time of the shooting, the department said the suspect was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Hurtado does not show up in the Sheriff’s Department online listing of those in custody.

Yepez and a fellow officer tried to stop Hurtado’s vehicle as it went south on Highway 99 near the Keyes Road exit, the Sheriff’s Department said the day after the shooting. The vehicle fled and exited onto Keyes Road. The CHP did not pursue, but the driver crashed.

The CHP officers arrived at the crash scene to check on the welfare of the “occupants,” the Sheriff’s Department said at the time. Bejaran said Tuesday that he did not have information on whether Hurtado was alone in the vehicle.

What led to the shooting remains under investigation and has not been disclosed, Bejaran said.

Investigations into the shooting also are being conducted by the CHP and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 12:45 PM with the headline "CHP officer and suspect involved in Keyes Road shooting ID’d."