Suspect arrested in last week’s Gustine area dairy farm robbery

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office said it has arrested a man suspected of being involved in a robbery at a Gustine area dairy.

Hector DeLaCruz, 30, of Gustine, has been arrested in connection with the reported robbery at a dairy farm on April 15, in the 26000 block of Fahey Road, according to a Merced County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post.

According to Deputy Daryl Allen, detectives followed several leads and served a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in the 1200 block of Southport Way in Gustine on Monday afternoon.

Also on Monday, deputies at 1:13 a.m. responded to a report of a robbery resulting in a homicide at a dairy farm in the Gustine area at Ingomar Grade and Bunker Road. According to Deputy Daryl an employee was found suffering from injuries and died at the scene.

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office said at this time it believes the two robberies are connected.

Deputies have not said whether DeLaCruz is a suspect in the homicide, however.

It’s not DeLaCruz’s first run-in with the law. In November, he was arrested by Gustine police during a traffic stop for allegedly operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. He pleaded no contest to that charge in February.

Authorities declined to release additional information at this time to protect the ongoing investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 4:53 PM.