Modesto carjacking suspect arrested after pursuit

A pursuit of a carjacker suspect ended quickly Thursday afternoon when Modesto police used a PIT maneuver to stop the fleeing suspect as he got onto Highway 99.

The carjacking occurred around noon in the Crossroads Shopping Center on Carpenter Road, said Lt. Tom Ciccarelli. The suspect, who had a knife, approached a woman and took her white sport utility vehicle.

Not long after the carjacking, an officer found the stolen vehicle on Olivero Road in south Modesto, Ciccarelli said. Officers were setting up a perimeter before moving in to arrest the suspect when he got into the vehicle and drove toward Jim Way. He headed north on Jim, then east onto Hatch Road.

Officers activated their lights and sirens but the suspect would not yield. Modesto resident Harinder Toor was stopped in his vehicle at a red light in an eastbound lane of Hatch just before the Highway 99 overpass when he heard the sirens approaching. He turned on his cell phone’s camera and got video of the suspect as he raced by him, followed by more than a dozen police cars.

Ciccarelli said officers followed the suspect onto Highway 99 where one officer used the PIT maneuver, or precision immobilization technique, in which the officer steers sharply into the target vehicle and causes its driver to lose control. The vehicle stopped and the suspect surrendered.

Shaun Ian Cass, 30, was arrested on suspicion of carjacking, possession of stolen property and assault with a deadly weapon.

This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Modesto carjacking suspect arrested after pursuit."