2 jailed with gun, drugs at Merced motel authorities have said is ‘hub’ of crime

A routine probation search at downtown motel landed two people behind bars Thursday after investigators said they found methamphetamine and a sawed-off shotgun, according to the Merced Police Department.

Officers from the city’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit searched a room at the Siesta Motel on Thursday night and found a modified shotgun in the room occupied by 31-year-old Juanita Miranda and 35-year-old Damian Lopez, who police described as a known gang member, officers said in a news release.

Police said they also searched Lopez’s car and found a package containing an unspecified amount of suspected methamphetamine.

Lopez was booked into the Merced County jail on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, criminal street gang participation and possession for sale of drugs, all felonies, as well as a misdemeanor allegation of possession of a controlled substance. He was in custody Friday with bail set at $235,000, according to booking records.

Details of Lopez’s prior criminal history were not available Friday.

Miranda was booked into the John Latorraca Correctional Facility on suspicion of possession of a short-barreled shotgun, a felony. She remained in custody Friday on $5,000 bail, according to booking records.

Miranda has been arrested a total of three times in 2017 in Merced County, including once in March on allegations of felony drug possession and conspiracy and again in May on a drunken-driving allegation, jail records show.

The Siesta Motel has established a reputation over the years for violence, drugs and prostitution, law enforcement officials have said.

Earlier this year, a Merced County judge ordered the owners of the West 16th Street motel to make a series of “improvements” at the motel aimed at cutting down on crime in the area. The order was, at least in part, the result of nuisance abatement action sought by the Merced County District Attorney’s Office in 2014 under the state’s Red Light Abatement Act.

District Attorney Larry Morse II in 2014 described the Siesta Motel as a “hub of prostitution” and cited more than 100 different crimes reported at the motel during a three-year span beginning in 2011.

During an undercover police sting in 2013 that landed nearly three dozen people in jail, Merced Police Chief Norman Andrade said the neighborhood was “rampant” with prostitution.

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "2 jailed with gun, drugs at Merced motel authorities have said is ‘hub’ of crime."