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Silver finally in custody after fourth police pursuit
silver mug.jpg

He ran from law enforcement officers in three different San Joaquin County cities. 

But Joshua Silver’s luck ran out in Fresno County this past weekend when he was finally taken into custody after successfully evading the Manteca Police Department, the Ripon Police Department, the San Joaquin County Sherriff’s Office, and the Delta Regional Auto Theft Team. 

Silver, 29, was arrested in Fresno County on Sunday after he was apprehended following a pursuit where he allegedly drove on the wrong side of the road to evade capture. While he reportedly gave a fake name, Jason Glen Whitcanack, to officers when he was finally in custody, his identity – and his long list of outstanding charges in San Joaquin County – surfaced, and Manteca Police were notified of his identity and custody status on Tuesday. Silver is currently being held for the new charges that also include assault with a weapon on a peace officer, reckless driving, evading, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Silver is being held in the Fresno County Jail reportedly on $215,000 bail, but there is currently no record of him in custody. An inmate named Jason Glen Whitcanack is currently in custody without bail for violating AB109 probation, assault on a police officer, assault with a firearm, and grand theft. Whitcanack had a bail amount of $735,000 but is ineligible for release because of the probation violation. 

The hunt for the suspected car thief began back in January when officers from the Manteca Street Crimes Unit and the Delta Regional Auto Theft Team were surveilling a house in Manteca and attempted to stop Silver when he tried to leave in a vehicle. Despite being boxed in, Silver managed to get around the officers and took them on a high-speed chase through city streets that was ultimately terminated due to the reckless nature of his driving. Silver surfaced weeks later when he another man, 24-year-old Matthew Machen, led San Joaquin County Sheriff’s deputies on a pair of chases in and around the Clements area. Machen was taken into custody earlier this month when he tried to flee the California Highway Patrol on a motorcycle and ultimately crashed on the bridge near Tower Park Marina on Highway 12. 

In a shocking twist in late February, Silver was chased once again when he was spotted by a Ripon police officer in a ridesharing vehicle. When the officer attempted to stop the car, Silver and another man, 32-year-old Brian Daniel Billings, then forced the driver out of the car at gunpoint before taking police on another chase into Manteca, where they discovered the car ditched on a public street. A perimeter was setup to try and contain the two men, but both managed to get away. Billings was arrested several days later, but Silver remained on the run for more than a month. 

Because of the brazen nature of the crimes in question, and that he was known to carry a firearm, local law enforcement agencies urged residents who may have seen him in public to call 911 immediately – reminding people not to approach him or those that he may be with. 

The nature of the chase in Fresno County that led his arrest was not immediately known, or how officers learned of his identity, was not immediately known. 


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