Stock image (Source unknown)
MERCED — On March 29th at around 4 PM, an officer of the Merced PD Gang Violence Suppression Unit (commonly abbreviated as GVSU) attempted a vehicle stop for a traffic violation in the area of Highway 59 and Olive Avenue.
The driver, later identified as 33-year-old Marcos Hernandez, chose instead to hit the gas. A pursuit followed, taking officer and culprit out of Merced and out to Fox Road, then on to the area of Cardella and Franklin Road where the car got stuck in a field.
That was when Hernandez and his passenger, later identified as 36-year-old Zeb Stevens, bolted from the vehicle.
Additional officers responded to the area and set up a perimeter. Around an hour later, both suspects were found and taken into custody.
Officers searched their vehicle and discovered a Tec. 22-caliber firearm and over 170 grams of methamphetamine. A citizen who’d witnessed the chase also turned over a 9mm handgun he’d found, which had apparently been discarded by one of the suspects during the chase.
Hernandez was booked into the Merced County Jail for felony evasion, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, sales and transportation of methamphetamine, and gang enhancements. He has since posted bail.
Stevens was booked on charges of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, sales and transportation of methamphetamine, and gang enhancements. Unlike his cohort, he remains in custody on $380,000 bail.
