Lemoore police, deputies join forces to make arrests after high-speed pursuit

The clerk told dispatch that the subjects then ran out of the store and got into an occupied vehicle and fled northbound on North 19 ½ Avenue.

Responding units and an officer located the vehicle in the area of 19th Avenue and West Hanford Armona Road. The officer tried to stop the vehicle as it turned northbound onto State Route 41. The driver initially pulled to the side of the road and began to stop but then drove back onto the roadway and a pursuit ensued.

The driver of the vehicle continued northbound on State Route 41 and then eastbound on Grangeville Blvd. at speeds up to 75 mph. At 12th Avenue and Grangeville Blvd., a Kings County Sheriff’s deputy deployed spike strips, which flattened a rear tire on the vehicle.

The driver continued, at approximately 25 mph, to the parking lot of the Walmart store. Two occupants of the vehicle fled on foot but were taken into custody a short distance away.

A total of five people who had been in the vehicle was taken into custody. An investigation revealed that all five subjects conspired to commit the theft at the 7-11 store and to encourage or aid the driver to not stop and flee from the police in a motor vehicle.

The driver was also found to be in possession of a controlled substance which she did not have a prescription for, 19.4 grams of marijuana, as well as items which showed the marijuana was possessed for sales.

 The driver of the vehicle, 19-year-old Vanessa Monique Hernandez of Lemoore, was arrested for evading a peace officer, conspiracy, shoplifting, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana for sale. She was booked into the Kings County Jail with bail set at $125,000.

Three other passengers in the vehicle were arrested for shoplifting, conspiracy, and evading a peace officer and were booked into the Kings County Juvenile Center.

An additional passenger in the vehicle was arrested and booked at the Kings County Juvenile Center for shoplifting, conspiracy, evading a peace officer, and possession of marijuana.