'Put down the cheeseburger and surrender': IRS gate-crashing suspect arrested

A Fresno man identified by police as the suspect who crashed through two gates at the Fresno IRS processing center during a road rage incident Friday was taken into custody by police late Friday in central Fresno by a Special Response Team.

Sgt. Adrian Alvarez Sr. said Moses Martinez, 25, was identified by witnesses as the driver of a Chrysler who followed a woman's car into the center about 6:30 a.m. Friday morning, apparently enraged because he believed the woman had honked at him. The Chrysler driver knocked down the gate on the Lane Avenue side of the complex near Peach Avenue, then avoided armed security officers and knocked down another gate on the Butler side, spun his car in circles several times on smoking tires and then sped away. The Chrysler was abandoned on Kings Canyon Road near the Fresno Fairgrounds and Martinez's mother reportedly told police the car had been stolen.

Witnesses identified Martinez from photos, and officers went to an apartment in the 3300 block of North Pleasant Avenue, where they found Martinez, said Alvarez. Officers knocked on the door, and Martinez emerged from a back bedroom wearing jeans and no shirt, and holding a cheeseburger, according to the sergeant. Martinez reportedly refused to give himself up until he had finished his meal, but officers told him to put down the burger, and he complied.

He was booked on charges of felony vandalism.

This story was originally published April 7, 2018 at 6:25 AM with the headline "'Put down the cheeseburger and surrender': IRS gate-crashing suspect arrested."