Police: Turlock men arrested with stolen vehicle, store merchandise

Two Turlock men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing nearly $300 worth of tools and equipment from a Wal-Mart store after they reportedly tried to get away in a stolen vehicle.

Adrian Eugene Hernandez, 26, and Paul James Howard, 33, were arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy, vehicle theft and shoplifting, according to a news release from the Sonora Police Department.

Police said Howard was on probation in Stanislaus County for a drug conviction and on parole for an armed robbery conviction. Hernandez was on probation for theft and drug convictions in Stanislaus County.

The theft occurred Thursday evening at the Wal-Mart on Sanguinetti Road, just north of Highway 108 in Sonora. But police believe the suspects were involved in a theft at another Sonora store earlier in the evening.

About 7:30 p.m., officers were called to the Ross Dress for Less store on Mono Way for a report of a male and a female trying to shoplift. The pair was preparing to carry out items from the store, when a store manager stopped their shopping cart and notified police. The suspects left in a vehicle, and the officers radioed authorities in the area to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

About 8:15 a.m., a Wal-Mart loss prevention officer called police to report two men left the store with a shopping cart full of tools and clothing. Police arrived but didn’t find the suspects.

About 15 minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the suspect vehicle speeding and moving erratically down Highway 108 near Phoenix Lake Road, a few miles east of the Wal-Mart store. The CHP officer pulled over the vehicle on Phoenix Lake near Hess Avenue.

The CHP officer soon discovered the vehicle was reported stolen from Turlock. The officer then detained the three people in the vehicle, Hernandez, Howard and a 19-year-old Ceres woman.

Sonora police responded to the traffic stop and found inside the vehicle stolen merchandise with the attached prices tags from the Wal-Mart and Ross stores. Witnesses identified Hernandez and Howard as the theft suspects, police said.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Police: Turlock men arrested with stolen vehicle, store merchandise."