A wanted man suspected of shooting a sheriff’s deputy in “an execution” in Central California was arrested hours later after an alleged crime spree across more than 100 miles, authorities said.
(FOX)- Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Wallace was shot twice in the head as he checked on a report of a suspicious van parked near a fishing access spot outside the city of Hughson, about 10 miles southeast of Modesto, Sheriff Adam Christianson said.
“We believe that Deputy Wallace was killed outside of the car, and we know for a fact that the gun used in this crime was in direct contact with his head when the trigger was pulled twice,” Christianson told a news conference. “This was an execution.”
Wallace was alone when he came across the van Sunday morning. A dispatcher told him the vehicle was stolen, so he asked for backup. Another deputy found Wallace a short time later.
The suspect, identified as David Machado, 36, fled in the van and carjacked a white Kia sedan in the nearby city of Keyes, police said.
While on the run, Machado committed an armed robbery in the town of Lindsay, about 150 miles south of where the shooting occurred, Christianson said. Then, shortly after noon, he tried to steal a woman’s purse at a convenience store.
The woman fought Machado and called police. He ran from the scene, but he was caught by officers a short time later.
The Lindsay police officers didn’t recognize Machado as the suspect in Wallace’s killing until after he was taken into custody, when they identified him through tattoos and a photograph issued by Stanislaus County.