Modesto man arrested in Turlock after chase, crash, standoff

A Modesto man was taken into custody Saturday night after leading Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies on a short pursuit, crashing his car and hiding on the grounds of a Foster Farms turkey plant.

Deputies in the Turlock area recognized 39-year-old Fernando Zuniga, “a known gang member who has been in our custody numerous times for major offenses,” and tried to pull him over on Lander Avenue shortly after 5 p.m., said Deputy Royjindar Singh, a sheriff’s spokesman. Zuniga was wanted on a warrant regarding a domestic violence case.

Zuniga fled and crashed his vehicle into an occupied car in an industrial area around Fifth and C streets, Singh said. The occupants of the other car suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Singh said he believes others were in the car with Zuniga, but he was the only one to flee. As he ran onto the Foster Farms property at Fifth and West F streets, deputies believed they saw a weapon in his hand, Singh said.

A perimeter was set up and the sheriff’s and Turlock police SWAT teams were activated. Foster Farms had fewer than a half-dozen employees working at the time, and all were able to leave the grounds safely, Singh said.

SWAT officers were getting ready to make their approach when Zuniga came out of a building, then went back inside, Singh said. The standoff continued until he came out again about 8 p.m. and surrendered without incident, Singh said.

Inside the Foster Farms property where Zuniga was hiding, deputies found some ammunition, Singh said, but he saw nothing on the report about a gun being found there. However, deputies checked Zuniga’s car and found two shotguns and a number of rounds of ammunition, he said.

Zuniga remained at Stanislaus County jail on Sunday on $150,000 bail. Charges include being a felon in possession of firearms, evading police, hit-and-run causing injury, resisting arrest, making criminal threats and corporal injury to a spouse.

Zuniga was released from prison in 2013, Singh said, after being arrested on suspicion of murder in 2008 in a cold case from 1999. He was arrested in the killing in Empire of a San Jose man who was shot several times at point-blank range.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Modesto man arrested in Turlock after chase, crash, standoff."