For the second time this week a group of violent felons are off the street thanks to the collaborative work between the Manteca Police Department’s organized retail crime task force and the Kohl’s team of loss prevention staffers.

And one of them was willing to go to great lengths – including running across a freeway – to try and escape.

According to the agency, the incident occurred at the Manteca Kohl’s location on Monday at around 8 p.m. when officers were contacted after loss prevention officers noticed three individuals amassing nearly $4,000 worth of merchandise into carts that they believed was being staged to be stolen from the store.

When the three individuals left the store – identified later as Gabriel Martinez and Ruben Zepedarios, both 34, and 41-year-old Dawn Cruz, all of Modesto – they were met in the parking lot by Manteca detectives.

All three of the suspects fled.

Zepedarios was quickly caught in the parking lot while Cruz was located inside of the Costco parking lot a short time later. Martinez fled into nearby shrubbery and eventually scaled a fence and crossed both directions of the Highway 120 Bypass on foot – attempting to hide in shrubs on the south side of the freeway. He was taken into custody without incident, and it was later learned that he is currently on parole for robbery out of San Joaquin County.

All three suspects were taken into custody and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on a variety of felony charges related to organized retail theft – a crime that Manteca Police has made a priority to thwart by dedicating detectives and working closely with retailers to send a message to would-be thieves.

Both Martinez and Zepedarios, according to Manteca Police, have extensive criminal histories. Zepedarios is being held on $180,000 bail and isn’t due in court until May 23, while Martinez is being held without bail for a parole violation and is scheduled to appear in court today to answer to those charges. Cruz is being held on $175,000 bail and will also appear in the Manteca branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court on May 23 at 1:30 p.m.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.