Turlock man identified as possible robbery suspect shot by Stockton officer

A 29-year-old Turlock man was identified as the potential bank robbery suspect shot by a Stockton Police Department officer on Highway 99 in Salida on Tuesday night, authorities said.

Jessie Bryant was arrested after being treated for a gunshot wound at a nearby hospital after authorities said he pointed a gun at the officer after the vehicle he was driving crashed during a pursuit on Highway 99 in Salida.

A replica firearm was recovered at the crime scene.

The passenger in the vehicle, also from Turlock, was not arrested. He was being treated for injuries suffered in the crash.

The officer was identified as Brian Breckenridge, a 19-year veteran assigned to the traffic unit.

According to Joe Silva, public information officer with the Stockton Police Department, Breckenridge was in uniform on his police motorcycle heading home after work when he was passed by a speeding vehicle. It matched the description of one believed to have been seen fleeing from a robbery in Stockton earlier Tuesday.

Breckenridge, who was heading south on the highway near Main Street in Ripon, pursued the vehicle south on the highway before it crashed just south of Hammett Road.

When Breckenridge pulled up to the crashed vehicle, Bryant got out and pointed a gun at Breckenridge, authorities said. Breckenridge fired at least one shot at Bryant, striking him.

Because the incident occurred in Stanislaus County, Sheriff’s Department detectives are heading the investigation.

Silva said he couldn’t characterize if Breckenridge was on-duty or off-duty, only that officers with the traffic unit are on call at all times. He said it was common for traffic unit officers to take their vehicles home.

As is common in officer-involved-shooting cases, Silva said Breckenridge was placed on a paid three-day administrative leave.

With regard to the bank robbery, Silva said that at 4:57 p.m. Tuesday, a man entered the BBVA Compass bank on West March Lane and handed a teller a note stating he had a bomb in his backpack.

Silva said the teller handed the man an undetermined amount of cash and fled in a white Ford or Saturn hatchback north on Interstate 5.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the same suspect robbed a bank in Manteca earlier in the day, and may be responsible for similar robberies from Turlock to Stockton.

Bryant is a suspect in an Atwater bank robbery reported Thursday, Atwater police Lt. Samuel Joseph confirmed.

“Our detectives are going to interview him, but his physical description matches the suspect in our bank robbery, including the hat (the bank robber) was wearing at the time,” Joseph said.

Atwater police on Tuesday released a security-camera image of a man suspected of robbing a bank last week.

The image shows a man in a black San Francisco 49ers hat wearing a black shirt and a backpack. Atwater police detectives are hoping someone will come forward with information identifying the man.

Police said the man took an undisclosed amount of money from a bank teller around 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Merco Credit Union on Bellevue Road in Atwater. The man passed a handwritten note to the employee, demanding money and threatening to detonate an item he claimed was a bomb, police said.

There were no injuries.

Detectives believe the same man was spotted about 10 minutes before the robbery inside BBVA Compass Bank on Broadway Avenue in Atwater. Police said the man went into the bank, claimed he wanted to make a deposit, but left after telling an employee he had forgotten his identification.

Joseph said Atwater detectives were communicating with investigators from other agencies. None of the money taken from the Atwater bank had been recovered as of Wednesday evening.

It was not immediately known if authorities would be pursuing charges against Bryant on any of the bank robberies. He was booked at Stanislaus County jail on charges of evading a peace officer, brandishing a weapon and a parole violation.

Sheriff’s department detectives are investigating the incident, and will be joined by investigators with the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office and the California Highway Patrol. Investigators with the Stockton Police Department also were at the crash scene.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 6:54 AM with the headline "Turlock man identified as possible robbery suspect shot by Stockton officer."