Madera man arrested after manhunt

A manhunt ended late Tuesday outside Madera with a 34-year-old man behind bars, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Johnathan D. Daniels was captured in a rural area north of the city after a search by Madera deputies, the California Highway Patrol and the Fresno Police Department. A Fresno police dog found Daniels hiding in a tree, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Deputies were called around 11 p.m. Tuesday to a home on Western Way. A woman reported that Daniels had stolen her vehicle and that her 15-year-old daughter was inside.

“Daniels told deputies he had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend and had left in her vehicle,” deputies said in the statement. “He claimed that he did not know the girl was inside the vehicle and when he saw her, he dropped her off at the house.”

Daniels was booked into the Madera County Department of Corrections on a warrant for a parole violation and on suspicion of obstruction of law enforcement officers.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Madera man arrested after manhunt."