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Helicopter, K9 help catch auto theft suspect
dominic geren
Dominic Geren

A suspected auto thief’s attempt to elude arrest came to an unsuccessful end when the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department helicopter pinpointed his location and a canine forced him out of hiding.

The suspect was identified as Dominic Geren, 18, of Modesto. He was booked into Stanislaus County Jail on charges of auto theft and felony evading.

The incident began Friday night when agents with the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Taskforce were in Turlock in the area of N. Golden State Boulevard and W. Canal drive and located a 1995 Honda Civic that had been reported stolen out of Tracy.

StanCATT requested the assistance of the Turlock Police Department to enforce a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the driver, later identified as Geren, refused to comply and sped off. A pursuit was initiated, but was soon canceled because of Geren’s erratic driving, according to StanCATT.

However, Geren’s escape wasn’t a sure thing, as the sheriff’s department helicopter followed him overhead and was able to relay the location of the car when Geren and his two passengers abandoned it at Washington and Fulkerth roads.

A Stanislaus Sheriff’s deputy and his canine Rocky responded to the area, which led Geren and his two passengers to surrender without any further attempts to hide or run.