Merced man arrested day after carjacking, brief chase ends in crash, police say

A Merced man was arrested on suspicion of carjacking a person early Wednesday morning, police said.

Ernesto Antonio Zaragoza Guzman, 19, was identified as a suspect who was in a car with a victim at about 3:53 a.m. Wednesday in the area of Q Street and West Fifth Street when he told the victim to get out, motioning as if he had a firearm, according to a news release.

Guzman then fled the scene, police said.

Nearly a day later on Thursday morning, officers saw the carjacked vehicle being driven near O Street and West 11th Street. When they tried to stop the stolen vehicle, Guzman reportedly led police on a pursuit that quickly ended when the car crashed into a fence.

Two occupants, including Guzman, fled the scene, according to the release.

Guzman who was identified as the suspect and driver, was located later that day during execution of a search warrant at his home in the 900 block of West 12th Street in Merced, the release states.

He was arrested and was in custody Friday on suspicion of carjacking on $100,000 bail, according to jail records.

Anyone with information about the carjacking is being urged to call Merced Police Department at 209-385-6912. The department’s tipster line is 209-385-4725. And anonymous text messages can be sent to the “TIP411,” or 847411, including “Comvip” as the text message keyword.

This story was originally published March 22, 2019 at 11:20 AM.