At about 5:05am Wednesday, Turlock Police responded to a suspicious person in the 900 block of Vermont Avenue.

The caller reported a man was looking into vehicles in the area.

Officer Juan Arroyo arrived on scene a few minutes later and located the man, later identified as Corey Pollard, 37, of Turlock.

As Arroyo attempted to contact Pollard, he fled on foot. Officer Anthieny then arrived to assist and the two gave Pollard lawful orders to comply, which he ignored.

Eventually, Pollard presented an unknown object at the officers in a threatening manner, at which point an officer-involved shooting occurred.

Pollard was struck in the right shoulder by Arroyo’s gunfire and suffered a single injury which was later determined to be non-life-threatening. Arroyo wasn’t injured.

Turlock Fire and American Medical Response arrived on scene, rendering aid to Pollard and transporting him to Memorial Medical Center.

Detectives and command staff responded to the scene and the area was blocked off for several hours as they worked to gather evidence and interview witnesses. They were also joined by investigators from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.

The object that Pollard had threatened Officers with was recovered at the scene and seized as evidence. Detectives didn’t release details such as what the object was, as officers involved still needed to be interviewed.

The object that Pollard had threatened officers with was recovered at the scene and seized as evidence, however, detectives have requested it not be publically identified yet. This is being done to protect the integrity of the investigation, as additional witnesses still need to be interviewed. We do, however, know that Arroyo perceived the object as a weapon, according to his radio transmission just before the shooting.

After being medically cleared, Pollard was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of assault against a peace officer and resisting a peace officer.

Arroyo has been placed on paid administrative leave for the duration of the internal investigation, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting. A criminal investigation is also being conducted, which will ultimately be reviewed by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether or not Arroyo’s actions were justified and excused by law.

“We are thankful our officers were not harmed in this situation and we pray for the continued safety of all our officers,” said Chief Jason Hedden. “Our investigation is expected to continue over the next few weeks and we’ll await further details as the investigation unfolds.”

“Additional information will be provided as it is our commitment to our community to preserve transparency and trust,” said Turlock Police spokeswoman Dominique Sanchez.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist is encouraged to call Detective Brandon Bertram at 209-664-7323.

Arroyo has been in law enforcement for nearly 20 years, 10 of which have been as a sworn peace officer. At age 15, he joined the Modesto Police Department as a volunteer explorer, before becoming a cadet with the Turlock Police Department. He then returned to MPD where he became a police officer in 2013, but decided to lateral back to TPD in 2020 where he’s served as a police officer assigned to patrol since.

Back in 2018, Arroyo was involved in an on-duty collision with a drunk driver, which left him seriously injured. Despite this, he returned to the job he loved in 2019 after a year-long recovery.

Turlock City News was also tipped off by a confidential source that this wasn’t Pollard’s first time being shot by police.

After investigating, we discovered that back in 2015, Pollard had been shot by an Oakland police officer.

During the Oakland incident, an officer and his trainee were sitting in their vehicle working on paperwork, when a woman approached them stating that Pollard hadn’t taken his medication, had a knife, and wanted to commit suicide. The officers exited their vehicle and told Pollard to drop the knife, but he didn’t respond and continued pacing back and forth.

Eventually, Pollard walked off the sidewalk, toward the woman who had approached the officers, and the officers themselves. Pollard’s movement and speed increased, as he began lunging toward the woman. The officer then rapidly fired three rounds at Pollard, striking him once in the right shoulder just like the Turlock shooting, and once in the left thigh.

Pollard immediately fell to the ground and dropped the knife, at which point the officers secured the knife and began providing medical aid to Pollard. Pollard was transported to the hospital and later released, at which point he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.

The Oakland officer was later cleared in the shooting, although we weren’t able to find the disposition of Pollard’s criminal case.