At about 12:28am Monday morning, Sheriff’s Deputy Ruezga was at S. Golden State Boulevard and East Avenue when he heard shots fired in the downtown area.
Simultaneously, Turlock Police began receiving calls reporting that a shooting had just occurred at La Cantina in the 100 block of S. First Street.
Ruezga and officers arrived on scene to several people claiming to be victims of an assault by one man, while another victim claimed to be the owner of a vehicle that had just been shot by another man.
Ruezga and Officer Mulhim detained one man in the back of the bar, while officers De La Cruz and Khounlivong detained another in the front.
The men were identified as Adrian Valencia, 30, of Riverside, and Jose Linares, 28, of Atwater.
Linares was determined to have two misdemeanor warrants, the first was a $11,000 one for driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, while the second was a $5,000 one for driving with a suspended license and speeding.
Linares was also determined to be associated with a white 2016 Ford Focus parked nearby, which had been listed in a brandishing incident after road rage on the freeway back in February that the California Highway Patrol was investigating. CHP responded to conduct follow-up in their own investigation.
Through statements, officers determined that Valencia had physically assaulted at least one victim, while Linares had brandished a handgun at several other victims. Linares then reportedly broke the window of a vehicle out and when confronted by the owner, shot several rounds into the engine compartment of it with the intent of disabling it.
Linares was later found to be in possession of two handguns, one that had been reported stolen out of Texas and another that was unserialized.
Valencia and Linares were both arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center, Valencia on the charge of battery and Linares on charges of negligently discharging a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, vandalism, two counts of carrying a loaded firearm, and four counts of drawing or exhibiting a firearm in a rude or threatening manner, as well as his warrants.
It should be noted that the District Attorney’s Office later dropped all of Linares’s charges with the exception of negligently discharging a firearm, while also adding two new counts of assault with a firearm.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist in it is encouraged to call Officer Nunez at 209-668-1200.
