SELMA – Two men who tried to steal beer from a mini-mart led sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase before crashing their car and being caught on foot.
Around 2 a.m. on Monday in the 12000 block of Highland Avenue in Selma, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office got a report of two men attempting to steal beer from a mini-mart. Witnesses told deputies that the men took off in a white pickup truck. The witnesses also provided the truck’s license plate number.
Deputies spotted the truck not long later and attempted to pull it over. The driver refused and instead sped into a neighborhood going more than 60 mph. The truck then crashed into a fence in the front yard of a home on East Dinuba Avenue. Two men got out of the truck and tried to run away, but deputies quickly apprehended them.
A search of the truck revealed a lock pick set and other tools used in vehicle thefts, as well as methamphetamine and a machete, according to the sheriff’s department.
The driver, 35-year-old Juan Torres, was charged with driving under the influence. His passenger, 26-year-old Andres Preciado, was charged with burglary.
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Fresno Bee: Would-be beer thieves caught after high-speed chase
