An attempt at stealing some clothes from a Turlock retailer led to a police chase and a robbery arrest for two men, the Turlock Police Department reported.

The incident began around 10:45 a.m. Monday when a witness contacted the Turlock Police Department and stated a man had just run out of the Kohl’s store in the 2700 block of Countryside Drive with arms full of clothes and a store employee chasing after him.

The suspect jumped into a waiting vehicle and it drove away. The witness followed the vehicle to the Tractor Supply store parking lot in the 200 block of N. Walnut Road.

Officers arrived at the parking lot and began watching the vehicle, which was empty at the time. The officers saw two men get into the vehicle and begin to drive out of the parking lot. The officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver decided to speed away, said Turlock Police spokesman Sgt. Russ Holeman.

The vehicle got onto Highway 99 headed northbound at a high rate of speed. Officers pursued it briefly, but decided to call it off because of safety concerns.

Even though the pursuit was ended the driver continued to drive very erratically and ended up crashing the car into a stopped big rig at the Keyes Road offramp, Holeman said.

Officers arrived at the crash site and saw both suspects running from the vehicle. One was apprehended with the help of a police canine and the other was taken into custody by a California Highway Patrol officer who was in the area.

The suspects were identified as Joshua Gonsalves, 28, and Tyler Lopez, 24.

As the incident was unfolding the police department received a report from Kohl’s that some jeans had been stolen from the store during a strong-armed robbery.

Lopez and Gonsalves were both arrested on suspicion of robbery and resisting arrest. Lopez also was charged with evading and hit and run. He also had an arrest warrant out of Merced County for auto theft.

Both men were medically cleared and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail.