Second suspect arrested in last week’s shooting of CHP officer in Turlock, police say
A second suspect has been arrested in a Turlock shooting last week that left both a California Highway Patrol officer and a suspect injured.
Turlock police said in a news release Tuesday evening that they had arrested Alexander Arroyo, 21, of Turlock. He was booked at the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder.
Authorities already have charged another Turlock man, Henry Moreno Arroyo, 40, in the case. Turlock police Lt. Neil Cervenka said Henry Arroyo is Alexander Arroyo’s uncle.
Henry Arroyo appeared Monday afternoon in Stanislaus County Superior Court. His arraignment was moved to Dec. 27 as he and his family work to hire a private defense attorney. He, too, is charged with two counts of attempted murder.
Henry and Alexander Arroyo both remained behind bars Wednesday morning, according to the Sheriff’s Department’s website, with bail set at $1.45 million for each of them.
The shooting occurred the evening of Dec. 16 in the 600 block of High Street as authorities were investigating a shooting on Highway 99 in Turlock that occurred the previous day.
Lt. Sean Haller with the investigative services unit in the CHP’s Central Division in Fresno said Tuesday there were no injuries from the highway shooting. He declined to provide more details because the investigation is ongoing. He said the CHP will release more details once the investigation is finished.
Turlock police reported the CHP officers had found what they believed to be the vehicle involved in the freeway shooting. As they approached the vehicle, a man began shooting at them. The officers, identified as Timothy Fautt and Anthony Palazuelos, returned fire, and the shooter ran away.
Turlock police have said one of the officers was wounded in the shooting. They have not identified which one, but District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Goold said in an email that the officer sustained “a grazing wound, and he was medically cleared that same night; (he is) not hospitalized now.”
Henry Arroyo was treated for a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening.
The two CHP officers are assigned to the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force, said Officer Pieter Peruch, a spokesman with the CHP’s Central Division.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 7:33 PM.
