On Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023, at 2:44 am, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported dangerous driver at the intersection of W Monte Vista Ave and Norwich Ln, Turlock, who had been doing donuts and was sitting in the middle of the roadway with his hazard lights on.

By the time officers arrived in the area, the vehicle had already left, however, another caller then reported that it was doing the same thing in front of Brown Elementary.

Officers arrived at Brown Elementary and this time located the vehicle. When they attempted to contact its driver, he drove off from them with his headlights off. Officers then made a traffic stop on him and he stopped at the intersection of Georgetown Ave and Crowell Rd.

Officers contacted the vehicle’s driver and identified him as Javier Romeropalafox, 22, of Ceres.

Romeropalafox displayed objective symptoms of being under the influence, so officers asked if he would be willing to participate in standardized field sobriety tests. Romeropalafox agreed and completed the tests.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, officers determined that Romeropalafox was under the influence of drugs. He was arrested. When Romeropalafox was informed of this, he began to walk away from officers, failing to comply with lawful orders to stop. A brief struggle ensued, however, Romeropalafox was able to eventually be placed in handcuffs.

Romeropalafox was checked out by American Medical Response and was found to have no injuries.

Romeropalafox was then transported to a local hospital by officers for a blood draw as required by California’s implied consent law. Afterward, he was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of driving under the influence of drugs and obstructing or resisting a public officer in the discharge of their duties. He was also issued an administrative driver’s license suspension order by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and his vehicle was impounded.