Woman arrested in suspected carjacking that led to stand off with SWAT in Clovis neighborhood
A Clovis woman was arrested on Sunday after an early morning carjacking led to a standoff with police in a Clovis neighborhood.
Natalie Grado, 27, was arrested after being detained at a home on Swift Avenue, near Ashlan and Locan avenues, where police were attempting to serve a search warrant following the carjacking, according to police.
The carjacking was reported around 3:40 a.m. in the area of Locan and Gettysburg avenues in Clovis.
The victim was in his car when a man and a woman approached and assaulted him and then stole the vehicle, police said.
Police said they tracked at least one of the suspected carjackers to the home on Swift. Grado was one of seven occupants detained inside the home after more than an hour-long standoff with police. All but Grado have since been released.
Police said the occupants at the home were uncooperative. Additionally, police noted the residents were destroying possible evidence by throwing it into the backyard swimming pool. Eventually, they barricaded themselves inside the home, according to Sgt. Jim Munro.
The SWAT team was activated due to the behavior of the occupants, along with the history of the potential suspects, he said. At least one of the occupants was known to police at the time, Munro said, but did not elaborate.
“This is all protocol,” he said of the heavy police presence in the neighborhood, which included members of SWAT and the bomb squad. “Anytime we have a barricaded situation ... the SWAT team does get called out,” Munro said.
“We were here for a property crime and if they would have just cooperative, it would have just saved the time of a lot of officers.”
The stolen car, a 2013 black Mini Cooper, was recovered Sunday evening at an apartment complex in Clovis.
Grado will be booked into the Fresno County Jail on allegations of carjacking, conspiracy, providing false information and a probation violation.
Detectives are working to identify additional suspects in this case. Anyone with information is asked to call Clovis PD dispatch at 559-324-2800.
This story was originally published February 24, 2019 at 3:02 PM.