On Saturday, May 28th, 2022, at 10:49 pm, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported sideshow in progress at Wakefield Elementary School, 400 South Ave, Turlock.

When officers arrived on scene, they found an active sideshow in the roadway directly in front of the school with a group of over fifty pedestrians blocking the roadway.

Officers received information from the Ceres Police Department that the same group was in their city and that the participants had thrown bricks and rocks at officers’ vehicles, so the Turlock Police Department watch commander advised his officers to keep their distance.

Officers set up in perimeter positions, waiting for the group to begin dispersing from the area so that they could follow them and conduct traffic stops on them when there’s way less of them around. As officers were waiting, they continued to observe the group doing burnouts and donuts in front of the school, launching off aerial fireworks.

As the group began to disperse, a Turlock Police sergeant near the intersection of Bethany Ave and Lewis St, observed a vehicle violate the California Vehicle Code, so he attempted to make a traffic stop on it. The vehicle failed to yield and a pursuit ensued.

The pursuit lasted less than a minute, ending with the vehicle coming to a stop on Bernell Ave just east of S Orange St.

Officers conducted a high risk stop and removed the vehicle’s driver from the vehicle at gunpoint. He was identified as Salvador Mejia, 26, of Los Angeles.

Mejia was arrested and released on a citation on charges of reckless driving and flight from a peace officer. His vehicle was also impounded.