A suspect is in custody this morning following a pursuit and SWAT callout overnight. Just after 11:00 P.M. last night, a Clovis Police Sergeant tried to pull over a car for speeding near Clovis/Dakota. The driver pulled over and cooperated, until he found out he was going to be arrested for a felony warrant. As the driver was trying to drive off, officers smashed his front driver window with a baton just before he rammed two police cars and sped away. Officers pursued the driver with lights and siren until he arrived home and ran inside near Fowler/Kings Canyon in Fresno. As officers were making announcements for the driver to come outside, he opened the front door and put a knife to his throat, threatening to harm himself. At that time, our SWAT and Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) were called out to assist patrol officers.

For hours, our CNT members negotiated with the suspect after the other family members safely got out of the home. Just before 6:00 A.M. SWAT operators used less lethal options and the suspect surrendered without further incident. The suspect received a bruise to his torso from a less lethal round and is currently being treated at a local hospital before being booked into Fresno County Jail. The suspect has been identified as 29-year-old Mario Ramirez-Romero of Fresno. Ramirez-Romero is facing several charges including assault with a deadly-weapon, evading, vandalism, and resisting an officer.

Thankfully, no one else was injured during this incident. On behalf of Chief Fleming, we would like to thank both Fresno Police & Fresno Sheriff for their assistance.