Homar Alonso Cardenas
FRESNO – Fresno Police officers responded early Sunday morning to a call reporting a suspicious individual in a Tahoe parked toward the middle of the road on block 2300 of South Backer Avenue. The caller, a resident of the area, described the driver, 30-year-old Homar Alonso Cardenas, as possibly being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as he was talking but not making sense. Officers activated their overhead lights upon arrival at which point Cardenas drove off.
After Cardenas showed no intent to stop his vehicle — accelerating, driving on freeways and city streets — air support was dispatched allowing patrol vehicles to put space between themselves and the gray Tahoe. Monitoring the situation from a safe distance, the Fresno Police Department’s Air 1 helicopter alerted ground level officers to locations and the speed of the suspect’s vehicle.
Patrol officers decreased their following distance when Cardenas slipped into the oncoming traffic’s lane as he drove North on Clovis Avenue from American Avenue. Before officers could engage spike strips, Cardenas cornered himself by crashing into and unhinging the gates of the Simonian Farms parking lot on Jensen and Clovis Avenue. Noticing the parking lot had no other exits, Cardenas began driving in reverse nearly striking an officer who had to jump back into his car to avoid contact with the suspect’s vehicle.
At this point, Fresno Police Officers open fired on the gray Tahoe. Cardenas managed to strike three marked police cars, including one which sheltered a civilian on a ride along, before his vehicle came to a stop. Cardenas was removed from his car and treated at the scene for three gunshot wounds before continuing medical attention at Community Regional Medical Center.
This was not Cardenas’ first police chase. As reported by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, on 07/20/2017, “Fresno Police responded to a traffic complaint at the 4600 block of East Belgravia. Cardenas again drove away from Fresno Police officers who arrived on scene and they began to pursue him. Fresno Police stopped pursuing Cardenas after he ran stop signs and started driving recklessly.”
No officers suffered serious injuries during either incident. As is standard in officer involved shootings, the three officers who fired their handguns have been placed on paid leave during the administrative investigation.
Due to the location of the shooting, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office is overseeing the investigation and anyone with additional information on this case is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 559-600-3111.
Homar Alonso Cardenas has been charged with several counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon in relation to a civilian, and one count of evading a peace officer. He is being held on a $255,000 bail at the Fresno County Jail.
