Waterford-area chase, crash lead to arrest of another suspect in Modesto officer shooting
Another person wanted in connection with the Aug. 14 shooting of Modesto police Officer Michael “Mikey” Rokaitis while he served a search warrant at a home was arrested Saturday after a pursuit in the Waterford area.
Modesto resident Andrew Satariano, 41, faces felony hit-and-run and various drug and weapons charges, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.
On his @dirkseforsheriff page on Facebook, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse posted Sunday morning that several deputies responded to a call from a rancher in the area east of Waterford reporting a suspicious vehicle whose driver had a rifle and was with a nude woman.
“The vehicle’s license plate was associated with a subject wanted by Modesto Police Department for his involvement in the shooting of Officer Rokaitis,” the sheriff wrote.
He added that when deputies located the vehicle, the driver fled. Pursued by deputies, the driver struck two other vehicles, crashed and was ejected, the sheriff wrote, not naming Satariano or mentioning the female passenger.
A news release later Sunday from the Sheriff’s Department said the vehicle being driven by Satariano was located on Crabtree Road. “He sped away from arriving deputies, stopped the vehicle and let the female passenger out of the car, then fled again at a high rate of speed. The female was later located and released with no injuries or criminal charges.”
Two of the three people in the vehicles Satariano struck were taken to local hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening, the news release said.
Satariano fled across the Tuolumne River, according to Dirkse’s post. His department’s aircraft was overhead and followed Satariano until he ultimately was taken into custody by a K9. Guns and a large amount of drugs were located in the suspect’s vehicle, the sheriff wrote.
Prior to being booked, Satariano was taken to a hospital for medical clearance.
The Sheriff’s Department online custody log shows six cases against Satariano, and bail adding up to nearly $1.75 million. Charges from the first case alone, presumably Saturday’s pursuit, include the hit-and-run, evading a peace officer by driving against traffic, possession of methamphetamine for sale, transporting or selling meth, grand theft of a firearm, and more.
Rokaitis has undergone seven surgeries since the shooting, including one to have part of his right leg amputated. He spent 12 days in the ICU but is now in stable condition.
This story was originally published September 5, 2021 at 11:34 AM.
