Men arrested in Atwater with drugs and ‘Halloween-style’ costumes, police say

A car chase ended early Tuesday in Atwater with two men in custody after police found heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, needles, a stun gun, bolt cutters, a stolen credit card and “assorted Halloween-style costumes.”

Jeffrey A. Heberline and Abundio Reyna, both 37, were arrested just after 1 a.m. on suspicion of a variety of theft and drug-related charges, Atwater Police Chief Samuel Joseph said.

According to police, Sgt. Armando Echevarria spotted a silver Honda Civic run a stop sign around 1:10 a.m. in the area of Village Woods Drive and Michigan Avenue. The officer scrambled to catch up to the speeding Honda, which turned down several streets and blew past at least two more stop signs before the driver, later identified by police as Heberline, pulled over on Kansas Street, police said. Two men were arrested at gunpoint.

Officers said both men were wanted on unrelated warrants and, police said, Heberline was driving without a license.

Under the driver’s seat, investigators found a box full of syringes, including one containing heroin. Police also found a stolen credit card, about half a gram of methamphetamine, about 7 grams of marijuana, along with a stolen license plate, a set of bolt cutters, a glass pipe, and a stun gun, Joseph said.

Police later found a “large plastic tote” containing “assorted Halloween-style costumes,” Joseph said. Police believe the costumes had been stolen, but no other details on the costumes were available Tuesday.

“I want to commend Sgt. Echevarria for his job in taking these two dangerous individuals off the streets of Atwater,” Joseph said.

According to Merced County Jail records, Herberline and Reyna have been in and out of custody in Merced County during the last three years on a variety of drug and theft-related allegations.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Men arrested in Atwater with drugs and ‘Halloween-style’ costumes, police say."