On Sunday, June 18th, 2023, at 3:35 am, a Turlock Police officer near AutoZone, 1272 Geer Rd, Turlock, recognized a vehicle on the be on the lookout bulletin that had been involved in some thefts, so he got out with it.

The officer made contact with and identified the vehicle’s occupant as Louis Hernandez, 39, of Delhi.

When the officer had his dispatcher run Hernandez, he discovered that he was on post release community supervision for driving or taking a vehicle without the consent of its owner.

Hernandez was detained in handcuffs and a PRCS search of his vehicle led to the discovery of bear spray and narcotics.

Hernandez was obviously a convicted felon because he was on PRCS, thus being prohibited from possessing bear spray and other weapons.

When questioned about the bear spray, Hernandez stated that he had just gotten the vehicle and didn’t know that the bear spray was in it, even though it was visible in plain view from where he had been seen and his other belongings were buried deep in the vehicle.

When questioned about the vehicle, Hernandez stated that it was his friend’s and gave a name, however, that name didn’t match anything on the registration. Hernandez then stated that the only way he could reach his friend was by going to his house in Modesto, which he had a hard time explaining how to get to.

With the vehicle not being reported stolen, officers couldn’t do much more to further that aspect of the investigation.

Hernandez was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of possession of a tear gas weapon by a convicted felon or person convicted of an assault crime, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of methamphetamines.

Hernandez’s information was given to the officers handling the thefts that he was possibly involved in to help further their investigations.