At about 7:57 pm Tuesday evening, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported suspicious incident in the 1100 block of English Avenue, Turlock, after several vehicles had been seen blocking the roadway with subjects hanging out around them smoking.
Officers arrived on scene and contacted Santiago Cornejo, 19, of Turlock, who was seated in a vehicle. Officers believed that Cornejo had narcotics in his vehicle, so they asked him to exit, however, he refused. Officers continued talking to Cornejo through his driver window, trying to convince him to exit, when he suddenly took off at a high rate of speed and ran over an officer’s foot.
Assisting officers attempted to give chase, however, Cornejo managed to get away.
Surrounding law enforcement agencies, including the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, were notified of the incident to be on the lookout for Cornejo’s vehicle.
At about 9:07 pm, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office received a notification from one of their automatic license plate readers at the intersection of East Avenue and Oleander Lane that Cornejo’s vehicle had just been in that area. Cornejo was known to live at a house right at that intersection, so officers went there and made contact with some subjects nearby who were later determined to be his family members.
The family members told officers that Cornejo was not there, however, they called him and were eventually able to convince him to come home and surrender.
At about 10:10 pm, Cornejo arrived home and was arrested.
Cornejo was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of hit and run with injuries and resisting a peace officer.
Officer Zachary Schell was who had his foot run over. He suffered minor injuries and has already returned to work.
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