A California man arrested early Wednesday morning with a large cache of suspected stolen weapons is wanted for questioning in a series of Fresno-area robberies.
Martin Earl Rushing, 40, of Los Banos, Calif., was booked into the Carson City Jail at 12:38 a.m. Wednesday on suspicion of 10 counts of possession of stolen firearms, four counts of being a felon in possession of firearms, three counts of destruction of private property, trafficking methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, eluding police, possession of a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the arrest report, at 11:53 p.m. Tuesday Carson City Sheriff's Deputy Chris Rivera ran the plates on a white pickup truck seen southbound on South Carson Street near the Carson Mall.
When the vehicle came back as stolen, Rivera, who had intended to wait for backup, was forced to initiate a traffic stop when it turned onto Rhodes Street.
When the officer exited his vehicle, the truck driver accelerated away, leading deputies on a short vehicle chase in which he crashed through fences at Carson Self Storage and Cherry Creek Apartments, before driving through a third fence at self storage yard and becoming stuck. The driver then jumped from the vehicle and ran.
Deputies were able to track the driver because as he ran he dropped live rounds of ammunition, the report states.
Thirty-minutes later, officers allegedly found Rushing hiding beneath a box truck behind the Mill House Inn Motel in the 3200 block of South Carson Street.
When he was searched they allegedly found two weapons on him and several more inside the vehicle, the report states.
A check on the serial numbers allegedly revealed the weapons had been stolen out of Merced, Calif., just as the car has been, said Detective Lt. Ken Sandage.
Also in the vehicle officers allegedly recovered 14.2 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
According to the City of Los Banos Police Department website, Rushing is among Los Banos Most Wanted for robbery.
The Fresno Bee and the Los Banos Enterprise identified Rushing as wanted in connection with a series of robberies in Los Banos, Merced, Madera and Fresno.
The last would be a robbery at a McDonald's in Fresno on May 3 where Rushing allegedly gained entry into a closed McDonald's and was in the process of burglarizing it when workers arrived. Rushing allegedly brandished a weapon, pointed it at workers, then fled, according to the Los Banos Enterprise.
Calls to police departments in those jurisdictions were not immediately returned.
Sandage confirmed Rushing is believed to be involved in the California robberies.
Rushing is being held on $100,000 bail.
