View photos
Stanislaus County Sheriff's
Department Deputy Dennis Wallace is seen in an undated photo provided by the
Stanislaus County, Calif., Sheriff's Department. The department says Deputy
Dennis Wallace was shot and killed Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, outside the city of
Hughson, Calif., while checking on a suspicious car, and that 36-year-old
suspect David Machado was arrested in Tulare County. (Stanislaus County
Sheriff's Department via AP)
.
.
HUGHSON, Calif.
(AP) — A man suspected of shooting a sheriff's deputy twice in the head in
Central California was arrested hours after the killing on Sunday when he tried
to steal a woman's purse, authorities said.
Stanislaus
County Sheriff's Deputy Dennis Wallace was shot at point-blank range 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, county
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. He was taken to a hospital, where he died, the department
said.
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.
Comments
Post a Comment