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Suspect Captured After Initially Evading Deputies
Jose Vidal
Jose Vidal

Riverbank deputies were dispatched to the 2700 block of Stanislaus Street on Saturday, May 2 to a report of a male subject attempting to force a woman into his truck.

The man was later identified as Jose Vidal. Witnesses near the scene reported the woman calling out for help and said the vehicle was a red Dodge. Deputies arrived but were unable to locate either party. A few moments later, deputies located a truck matching the description in a fast food parking lot. Vidal fled from the truck on foot northbound over a wall and onto Sierra Court. A perimeter was set up; K-9 and air support were used but authorities were unable to locate him at that time. The victim walked up to the location where Vidal fled and identified Vidal as the person driving the truck. The victim advised that Vidal sometimes stays at an address on Stanislaus Street and also drives a Chrysler 300. The Chrysler was seen at the address; however, they did not locate Vidal at the residence.

The victim added that Vidal had kept her against her will, did not allow her to leave and threatened to kill her several times the previous day. She also said he had a handgun that she believed he kept in another vehicle.

A short time after the perimeter was broken down, the Chrysler 300 was no longer in front of the residence on Stanislaus Street. Later in the shift, deputies located a black Chrysler 300 on Topeka and tried to stop it. The driver, identified as Vidal stopped the vehicle at the Topeka Apartments, jumped the fence, and fled northbound through the apartment parking lot and down to the River Cove area. A perimeter was established, K-9 and air support were again used to assist. During the search, a witness advised she observed someone matching Vidal’s description come out of the river on the north side and get into a green Toyota truck.

When the Chrysler 300 was cleared, a loaded handgun was located behind the driver’s seat in a gun box.

About an hour after deputies broke down the second search, the victim contacted authorities and advised that Vidal had come to her house to speak with her and asked her to meet him later that night. Authorities then put a plan in place to capture Vidal. Several units were hidden and set-up throughout the area where they waited for Vidal to arrive. The helicopter (Air101) stayed at altitude and kept surveillance of the property. Air101 located several subjects to the rear of the meeting location and the patrol units moved in. Vidal was located and once again ran. A perimeter was quickly established and teams moved in as Air101 directed them to where Vidal was hiding on a wall. He jumped down as they got closer and was eventually apprehended by a Sheriff’s K-9 unit. Vidal was transported to the hospital to receive medical aid from the apprehension and he was later booked for resisting, delaying, and obstructing, corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon a victim (felony domestic violence), false imprisonment, kidnapping, criminal threats, and illegal possession of a firearm.

Air 101