Manteca Police have arrested two people they believe were responsible for a shooting on Sunday evening near East Yosemite Avenue and Commerce Avenue – just one block away from where a man was gunned down and killed in his vehicle on Saturday.
Brandon Garcia, 32, and Luki Aumua Tuitasi, 22, were arrested by members of the Manteca-Ripon SWAT team after they executed a search warrant at a residence on the 2100 block of Brennan Lane shortly after 3 a.m. on Monday. Both were expected to be booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on Monday evening on charges of attempted murder and will be held without bail.
Authorities have not yet said whether the two weekend shootings – which left one man dead and put another in the hospital – were related but noted in a release Sunday evening that the circumstances surrounding both are being investigated.
And while SWAT team members were taking the two alleged gunmen into custody, a detective watching a separate residence that could be connected to the two men may have thwarted an additional tragedy.
According to a release issued Monday, during the course of investigating the Sunday shooting a detective witnessed a vehicle pull up outside of a Manteca home and place something beneath a parked vehicle. Police followed that vehicle and stopped it – detaining the driver and the passenger. Additional personnel went to check the vehicle at the residence and discovered that the items placed were incendiary devices.
The Manteca Police Department bomb squad was called out to render the devices safe.
Brianna Maldonado, 18, and Noble Carpenter, 46, were arrested for placing the incendiary devices. Maldonado was transported to the San Joaquin County Jail and booked on charges of possession of a destructive device, possession of a destructive device with intent to terrorize, attempted arson, and possession of a destructive device near an inhabited dwelling. She is being currently being held on $6.7 million bail. Carpenter is facing charges including conspiracy to commit a crime, aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime, and possession of a destructive device and is being held on $800,000 bail.
The exact connection between the placement of the incendiary devices and the shooting on Sunday evening – and why detectives were sitting on the house where the placement of the devices – has not been disclosed by authorities.
The shooting on Sunday at the intersection of Commerce Avenue and East Yosemite Avenue – one of Manteca’s busiest intersections – came one day after police responded to a call at East Yosemite Avenue and Northwoods Avenue (basically the same intersection as the name of the cross street changes) about a victim that was shot while in their vehicle. When officers arrived, they found an unresponsive male slumped down inside of the blue classic car that he was driving. Officers immediately began providing CPR and first aid until paramedics arrived.
Despite lifesaving measures by both the Manteca Police officers who responded to the initial call and the paramedics who arrived to render aid, the unidentified male was declared dead at the scene.
His name has not been released.
Because of the intricacies of the case and potential that they are related, Manteca Police are asking the public for any information that they may have about the shooting death on Saturday – which occurred just before 4:30 p.m. – and the shooting on Sunday that occurred just after 5:30 p.m. Information can be passed on by emailing investigations@mantecapd.com or by calling 209.456.8101 and referencing Case No. 21-6420.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
