Salinas man accused of assaulting CHP officer identified
PRUNEDALE, Calif. (KION)
UPDATE 2/25/2020 1:40 p.m. The CHP identifies the man accused of attacking one of their officers on Highway 101 in Prunedale Monday night as 30-year-old Celso Vivar Meondoza.
The CHP said he fought with the officer during a DUI investigation before running across all northbound and southbound lanes of the highway. He was later found in a wooded area near Prunedale North Road and Hardie Road.
Neighbors were concerned by all of the police activity in their relatively
quiet neighborhood.
“There was lots of sirens going around, a helicopter flying through and I
was like okay, I hope they catch the guy, whatever’s going on,” Prunedale resident Alex Morales said.
The officer had a minor hand injury.
Mendoza had a prior felony assault charge in his criminal history stemming from a domestic violence related case, but the case was dismissed. He was, however, on a conditional probation at the time of his arrest on Monday.
Under the probation conditions, Mendoza cannot drink or possess alcohol
and must agree to be searched without a search warrant by law enforcement officer.
Mendoza faces a felony charge for resisting arrest with bail set at
$10,000. He also faces four misdemeanors, including DUI and obstructing an officer.
UPDATE 2/24/20, 8:48 p.m. - Roughly two hours after the incident, CHP arrested the suspect accused of attacking one their officers on Highway 101 in Prunedale.
The man, a Salinas resident, was taken into custody after hiding in the wooded area near Prunedale North Road and Hardie Road.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
California Highway Patrol is searching for a man they say assaulted one of their officers and ran across all lanes of Highway 101 in Prunedale, Monday night.
The incident started as a DUI investigation on northbound Highway 101 near Messick Road. CHP says the suspect fought with the officer before running across all northbound and southbound lanes. Officers then began searching the hillside off southbound Highway 101.
The assaulted officer suffered a minor hand injury.
CHP describes the suspect as a Hispanic male, wearing black dress shoes, jeans and a black t-shirt. They are asking the public to call if they see him.
This is a developing story.
