Suspect who hid in Fresno Save Mart ceiling facing four charges, sheriff says
CORRECTION: The original story and ensuing coverage of a wanted burglary suspect being shot at as he drove in a River Park parking lot incorrectly reported that investigators originally said an off-duty Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy fired his weapon. An on-duty deputy fired on the car.
Investigators are looking for two people they say were involved in a home burglary last week that led to a Fresno man hiding in the ceiling of a Save Mart for about two days, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
The man identified as 28-year-old Pheng Vang was wanted on suspicion of an unsolved burglary in which guns were stolen in Caruthers.
“We believe a man and woman assisted Vang during the burglary and we are asking for the public’s assistance to identify and locate them,” a sheriff’s press release said on Monday.
Those two were not the people detained last week inside Macy’s, deputies say. Those detained were released and were not involved in a crime.
Officers surrounded Save Mart on First Street and Nees Avenue for 20 hours overnight beginning Thursday before calling off the search the next day.
On Saturday afternoon, Vang fell from the Save Mart ceiling. He ran out of an emergency exit, and police arrested him at a nearby apartment complex.
A customer who was at the Save Mart on Saturday said people heard a loud crash inside the grocery store when Vang fell from the ceiling and onto the aisle floor. Police said a store manager immediately called 911 to inform police that the suspect who’d been in hiding might’ve been found.
Vang has been booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of four charges — evading police, possession of stolen property, vandalism to Save Mart and hit-and-run property damage, the sheriff’s office said Monday. He’s held in lieu of bail of $35,000.
Deputies said they found stolen property in his car that connects him to the Caruthers burglary, but he he did not have any stolen guns.
How it started
Vang was one of three people in a car that matched a description of a vehicle involved in the home burglary involving stolen guns, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office
An off-duty deputy noticed the vehicle at the parking lot of the Macy’s in the River Park shopping center and then noticed the three people who entered the car also matched a description of those wanted in connection to the home burglary, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies made an effort to arrest the three before a man and a woman ran out of the car and into the Macy’s, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver, who authorities say was Vang, drove away and started ramming other vehicles to flee from the scene.
An on-duty deputy shot at the suspect vehicle, sheriff spokesperson Tony Botti said Monday, hitting it at least once.
The suspect ended up fleeing about 1 1/2 miles to the Save Mart, where Vang allegedly abandoned the car before hiding.
This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 2:02 PM.
