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Local family held at gunpoint |
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Written by Jonathan Partridge | Patterson Irrigator
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Friday, 20 June 2008 |
What started as a quaint outing to the San Joaquin River last weekend turned into a nightmare for a local family, after the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department mistakenly believed family members had been firing guns out of their truck window.
Members of the Hance family, including a 12-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy, were held at gunpoint by deputies on Olive Avenue near Elm Avenue at about 9 p.m. June 14. A 19-year-old pregnant woman and a 15-year-old girl were among those handcuffed at the scene.
“It was like the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through in my whole life,” said Desiree Hance, who was temporarily detained with her husband, Marty, and their children.
Hance said she believes the mix-up stemmed from an false accusation from two people the family had encountered earlier in the day. Police say the accusation was a case of mistaken identity.
The family was heading eastbound on Eucalyptus Avenue onto a dirt road at about 8:30 p.m. when they encountered a woman and man with a little dog standing next to what Hance had thought was an abandoned trailer. She said it appeared they wanted the truck to slow down, but the family’s dog was chained in the back of their pickup, and the 15-year-old daughter sped up instead as they drove by to avoid an encounter with the two dogs, Hance said.
After spending some time at the river, the family began to head back toward Eucalyptus Avenue but saw what appeared to be a truck blocking the road near the trailer. So, the family decided to take dirt roads over to Olive Avenue instead.
A sheriff’s patrol car followed the family onto Olive Avenue, Hance said. Another deputy patrol car was waiting at Elm and Olive avenues, she said. Both squad cars pulled over the family truck at that intersection.
Hance said two deputies pointed guns, one of which appeared to be an automatic rifle, toward the family after pulling them over and told them to exit the car, walking backwards, one by one, as they kept their hands behind their heads.
Deputies handcuffed Hance, her husband, the 15-year-old and the 19-year-old, and the family members were placed in the back of the two patrol cars. The deputies also searched the pickup.
“I think the craziest thing was seeing our kids go through that,” Hance said.
Several minutes after they were pulled over, Sgt. Joe Camarda of Patterson Police Services responded as backup, and Hance said Marty knew the sergeant.
Camarda said the people who called police pointed out the Hances’ pickup to deputies and said the people inside had been firing guns. They also mentioned the shots had come from a red truck like the one the Hance family had been driving, he said.
No weapons were found in the vehicle after it had been searched, Camarda said, explaining the case as one of mistaken identity.
“It was a false report,” he said.
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s spokesman Royjindar Singh said he was not able to find any information about the case this week, and the people who called police could not be found for comment.
Camarda said it is common practice for deputies to have their guns drawn if they believe someone has weapons inside a vehicle. He also said deputies ultimately apologized to the family.
Hance said she knew the deputies were doing what they were trained to do, but in this case she wished they could have been more civil.
Then again, things could have been worse.
“I’m just happy nobody made any sudden moves,” Hance said.
To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at
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Oh, and by the way, none of the Officers appologized to me, my husband, my pregnant step-daughter or my step-son. We at least deserve that much. Don't you think?