The Merced Sun-Star
A 27-year-old Merced man was arrested by police on drug, firearms, gang and resisting arrest charges following a confrontation with officers at Olympia Court and Loughborough Drive.
Cmdr. Tom Martin of the Merced Police Department said Omar Alvarez had to be subdued by Officer Jeff Christensen’s Taser device during a foot pursuit at 7:24 p.m. Friday.
During the foot chase, Christensen fired his department- issued Taser device. Alvarez immediately went to the ground where he was handcuffed.
When he was lifted off of the ground, officers found a .22-caliber handgun that had been concealed in Alvarez’s sweatshirt on the ground directly under his stomach, Martin said.
Martin said Christensen saw a black Pontiac Trans Am in the 1300 block of Loughborough Drive and noticed that the windows on the car were illegally tinted.
After stopping the vehicle, the passenger in the right front seat, Alvarez, quickly got out of the car with a 30-pack of beer under his arm. Christensen ordered him back into the car.
Martin said Alvarez kept putting his hands into his pockets. He was told repeatedly to stop and Christensen feared he may have a weapon of some sorts. Alvarez took his hands out of the pockets, then put them back in quickly. Christensen tried to stop him from doing so and Alvarez pulled back and finally began to run away, according to Martin.
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