Officer Spotted Suspect Driving Erratically
SALINAS—Who says that Community Service Officers have a boring job? Not the officers associated with the City of Salinas Police Department. A Community Service Officer used her intuition and helped get a car thief off the streets.
On Monday, about 11:17 am, a Community Service Officer observed a green Honda Accord traveling eastbound on East Alisal Street near John Street. The driver began driving erratically once he became aware of the officer behind him.
The Community Service Officer called for a Police officer to respond, while still observing the vehicle. The Driver, identified as 21-year-old Delfino Diaz, drove the car to the 100 block of Summer Street where he parked and abandoned it.
Diaz, who thought he could get away, ran for a short distance before meeting up with one of Salinas’ Finest. The officer was able to take him into custody without incident.
“The Community Service Officers play an important role in what we do as Police Officers.” Salinas Police Commander Henry Gomez said, “They help us out by taking the work from us, which in turn gives us time to do other important work in the city, like investigations.”
You might be wondering, why would Diaz leave a perfectly good car behind? Well, it had been reported stolen and few weeks earlier out of the Monterey County California Highway Patrol’s jurisdiction.
Diaz was arrested and transported to Monterey County Jail and booked on possession of a stolen vehicle. And if that was not enough, he was even driving with an open container of alcohol in the vehicle and on a suspended license, and charged for both. And he had been arrested just a few weeks before – on September 3, for possession of a controlled substance.
