Suspect in Riverbank assault brandishes knife at police, leads them on high-speed pursuit
Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies arrested an 18-year-old man early Thursday morning after he allegedly broke into his ex-girlfriend’s Riverbank home, assaulted her, then led deputies on a high-speed pursuit before crashing in north Modesto.
Sgt. Luke Schwartz said the suspect entered the victim’s home on Cottage Cove Drive while she was in the shower and waited for her in her bedroom. When she entered, he allegedly grabbed her by her arms, threw her on a bed, spit on her and threatened to hurt her. As he left the residence, he damaged her car door.
The suspect was gone when deputies arrived, but about 90 minutes later, they got information he was at Davis Park on College Avenue in Modesto.
He said the suspect was initially cooperative, but when more law enforcement arrived at the scene, he became aggressive and brandished a knife. Schwartz said the suspect walked to the front of a patrol car and tried to bait law enforcement into shooting him.
He “began yelling at law enforcement, withdrew a knife, lunged at deputies, and further tried to provoke them into an officer involved shooting,” Schwartz said.
Deputies fired at and hit the suspect with a less-than-lethal beanbag shotgun, but he got back into his vehicle and drove away.
Schwartz said the suspect led deputies on a pursuit that went to Riverbank then back into Modesto, lasted about five minutes and at times exceeded speeds of 100 mph. It ended at Roselle and Sylvan avenues, where the Modesto Police Department had laid down spike strips.
The suspect’s vehicle crashed into a retaining wall on the southwest corner of the intersection. He got out and jumped over the wall, into the backyard of a residence on Vancouver Drive.
The resident called 911 to report the suspect in the backyard. The suspect again refused to surrender, so a police dog was used to apprehend him, Schwartz said.
The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Thomas Harry, was medically cleared at a hospital for the dog bite before being booked into jail on suspicion of domestic violence, burglary, false imprisonment, vandalism, evading, resisting arrest, brandishing a weapon and making criminal threats. His bail is set at $211,000.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 2:11 PM.
