Sonora, CA…An early morning stakeout yielded one arrest and a high speed pursuit for Sheriff’s Deputies. In the early morning hours of November 3rd, 2015 three separate attempted burglaries occurred. The first attempted burglary resulted in the damage to the front doors of the C&C mini market in Jamestown where the suspects attempted to remove an interior ATM machine. Video surveillance revealed the suspect vehicle was a white Chevy S10 pick up with a black hood.

The second was reported by a passerby who said two men were attempting to break into the front door of Ed’s bar in Twain Harte. The witness saw the suspects who got into a small white truck and drove away. The truck was also seen on video by investigating deputies.

The third incident was reported a few minutes later at around 0600 hours, when the same truck was seen backed up to the front doors of the MiWuk General Store. A witness yelled at the two male subjects who got back into the truck and drove away.

At approximately 1030 am Deputies were at the Star Mobile Home Estates looking for the suspects when the Chevy S10 pickup with a black hood arrived with two male occupants. When the Deputies approached, one of the suspects later identified as Joshua Willis jumped into a white Ford pickup and fled at a high rate of speed. One deputy gave chase while two others arrested James Wood, 31, of Sonora, the other occupant of the Chevy. The pursuit of Willis covered 25 miles in the Jamestown, Moccasin and Chinese camps areas.

The pursuit ended on Hwy 108 near Keystone when Willis abandon his pickup in the oncoming eastbound lane and ran towards the Red Hills. Deputies gave chase on foot. The foot pursuit was terminated when it reached the heavy brush.
A perimeter was established as additional resource arrived from the Sheriff’s office and the California Highway patrol arrived. The area was searched for several hours using a helicopter from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s office and two K-9 units from TCSO. Willis was not located.

Anyone having knowledge of Willis whereabouts is urged to contact the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s office at 533-5815.