What started as a call about a suspicious person looking into parked cars turned into an arrest and a recovered stolen vehicle for the Manteca Police Department.

According to the agency, the incident occurred last week when dispatchers received a call about a suspicious person in the parking lot of the Best Western on East Yosemite Avenue near Highway 99.

When officers arrived at around 10 p.m. they observed an individual running across East Yosemite Ave. towards the onramp to southbound Highway 99 – one of the busiest sections of roadway in Manteca – and followed that individual.

After stopping the man officers were able to determine that 37-year-old Antonio Giron of Tracy was carrying a gas can that he had stolen out of the back of a truck in the Best Western parking lot, and that the truck that he had stashed on the southbound onramp for a quick getaway back to Tracy had a license plate that did not belong to it.

When officers ran the vehicle identification number, they determined that the truck had been reported stolen out of Sacramento.

Giron was taken into custody for possession of a stolen vehicle as well as additional outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Giron remains in custody on $50,000 bail for the outstanding warrants – which were for driving under the influence according to information available on the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department website – and is scheduled to appear in court in Manteca on Thursday to answer to the charges.

To contact Bulletin reporter email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com.