Fresno police capture gang member after anxious moments

A Fresno gang member apparently trying to get away from officers responding to a domestic violence report briefly put a 7-year-old in danger before he was arrested Friday night, police say.

Sgt. Andre Benson said officers were called out just after 7 p.m. on a report that a man had caused a mother and her children to scream during a disturbance inside an apartment. When officers arrived, they found parents from a neighboring apartment hysterical, telling them that the man had locked himself inside their apartment with their 7-year-old son who was prone to seizures if frightened.

Benson said officers feared for the child’s safety and forced entry into the apartment, where they found the child safe and the man, identified in jail records as Phaleng Svay, 35, hiding in a bedroom. Svay was booked into Fresno County Jail on probation violation and suspicion of burglary, resisting arrest and felony child endangerment. Benson said Svay is a suspect in a recent domestic violence case and has a violent criminal history dating to 1993.

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Fresno police capture gang member after anxious moments."