A 28-year-old Turlock man was arrested on multiple charges Thursday evening after he allegedly stole tools from work trucks at two locations in Ceres.

At 9:51 p.m., Ceres Police Sgt. Vince Hooper was patrolling the Howard Johnson Motel parking lot and spotted a man moving suspiciously from several work trucks to a gray Toyota Camry. The man quickly jumped into the Toyota and began to drive off with headlights off onto northbound Herndon Road and accelerate. Sgt. Hooper caught up and saw the car was missing license plates. When Hooper tried to stop the car at Hatch Road and Herndon Avenue, the driver, Jaime Valdezamezcua, 28, of Turlock, turned eastbound on Hatch Road at a high rate of speed. A short pursuit ensued but ended when Valdezamezcua struck the center median as he attempted to turn southbound onto Mitchell Road and his car became disabled.

Valdezamezcua began running eastbound across Mitchell Road toward McDonalds but was apprehended within minutes with the help of the Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter.

The Toyota contained stolen tools and construction type of equipment – and the missing license plates. Some of the property was linked to a prior grand theft from a vehicle at the Home Depot parking lot.

Back at the hotel, officers inspected one work truck which had been broken into. The truck’s owner identified his tools, worth about $4,000, which Valdezamezcua allegedly stole.

He was arrested and booked on charges of evading a police officer, burglary, possession of stolen property, probation violation, obstructing/resisting/delaying a peace officer and driving on a suspended license.