Zacharie Arteaga got an unexpected surprise when he walked out of a friend’s house in Lathrop on Friday afternoon – a greeting by the Manteca Police street crimes unit and a pair of handcuffs. 

Arteaga, a 21-year-old Stockton resident, is believed to have been the person carrying a revolver into a check-cashing business on the 1400 block of West Yosemite Avenue late Friday morning and demanding an unspecified amount of cash. 

Wearing what was described by witnesses as a black hoodie and a black ski mask and carrying a black bag with Oakland Athletics insignia printed on it, Arteaga, according to a report released by the Manteca Police, entered the store just before 11 a.m., brandished the handgun and demanded cash from all three of the tellers. He placed the money into the bag and disappeared out the door onto nearby Trevino Avenue. 

A witness that saw him get into the backseat of a black, four-door Honda was able to give police a description that yielded registration information. Both Manteca Police patrol officers and detectives setup across from the Eastwood Avenue address. They saw the car into the parking lot just after 11:30 a.m.

Arteaga was not inside. 

Information gleaned from the two women that were taken into custody at the time gave officer a possible location in Lathrop where Arteaga might be – eventually spotting him leaving that address and heading to another. With assistance by the Lathrop Police Department (San Joaquin County Sherriff’s Department) Manteca Police detectives were able to setup surveillance and take Arteaga into custody later in the afternoon when he walked out of the house with a friend. 

He is currently being held at the San Joaquin County Jail on $250,000 bail. He is being charged with robbery and is set to appear in the Manteca branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22.