A loud crash, guns drawn and a search: Turlock neighbors describe shooting suspect chase
Turlock resident Bob Crawford was watching TV at his house Tuesday night when he heard a boom.
A suspect who allegedly fatally shot a 22-year old Livingston woman nearby had driven through his front yard and hit the side of his house, Crawford said Wednesday.
When he opened his door Tuesday night, Crawford said he saw Turlock police cars and officers with their guns drawn. They told him to go back inside and lock his door. Officers had chased Juan Francisco Ibarra-Tapia, 22, from outside an O’Reilly Auto Parts store about two miles away, where police say he killed Zobeyda “Zoe” Esquerra.
Crawford’s neighbor Micah Shaneyfelt also looked outside after hearing sirens and the crash. After Shaneyfelt heard the exchange between Crawford and police, she thought of her three children, all under age 12.
“At that point, I turned back around, went inside and locked my kids in the upstairs bathroom to make sure that they’re safe,” Shaneyfelt said.
After crashing into her family’s fence and getting his car stuck, Shaneyfelt said, Ibarra-Tapia escaped through their backyard. He tore through some of their backyard fences, Shaneyfelt said, so police came up to the house’s back door with guns drawn. Officers cleared their house and garage to search for the suspect, she said.
Around 12:30 a.m., about two hours after the crash, Shaneyfelt and her husband received the all-clear from police. Officers took Ibarra-Tapia into custody in the 1300 block of Estates Drive, the Turlock Police Department said.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Shaneyfelt said. “I think it’s insane how he just completely missed and jumped over things.”
Police pulled the car out of the fence around 1:30 a.m. after investigating the scene, Crawford said. Both he and Shaneyfelt said they believe the suspect crashed at Arbor Way and Quincy Road because he didn’t realize the road ended.
By Wednesday afternoon, Crawford had cleaned up much of the damage. The crash broke off a post on the side of his house, smashed a rock in half, reduced a tree to one-third of its size and sheered off bushes, among other damages, Crawford said. The Shaneyfelts also quickly repaired part of their fence because they own dogs.
“Property damage can be fixed,” Crawford said. “I think that the tragedy of it is that some poor young lady lost her life.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
