Suspect in bank robbery arrested after Fresno chase ends in crash

A man wanted for robbery in another jurisdiction crashed into another driver at Peach and McKinley avenues Friday night after a dangerous chase through Fresno that police say reached speeds of more than 90 miles per hour and included multiple red-light runs.

Officers first spotted the suspect’s vehicle near Golden State Boulevard and Highway 99 around 9 p.m. and tried to pull him over, but he fled. Police then broke off the ground pursuit for public safety reasons and switched to aerial tracking with a helicopter, keeping watch as the suspect drove unpredictably through the city.

The chase ended when the suspect ran another red light and struck a Fresno driver at Peach and McKinley, a busy southeast Fresno intersection that has seen its share of collision calls. Despite the speed and the repeated traffic violations, police said no one was hurt in the crash.

Authorities did not release the suspect’s name, but officers said he is about 30 years old. He was taken into custody after the collision.

The case highlights a familiar tradeoff for Fresno law enforcement: whether to keep cars in a pursuit or let a dangerous driver go while officers track from above. The Fresno Police Department’s Air Support Unit is built for that kind of call, providing aerial support to Field Operations and assisting other units, departments and agencies as needed.

That capability has become more central in recent years. The City of Fresno approved a 10-year lease-purchase agreement in 2024 for one H125 helicopter for airborne law enforcement and other public-safety missions. Fresno County’s own Air Support Unit dates to October 1996, with patrol operations beginning in 1997.

Research on helicopter pursuits has long pointed to the same public-safety logic officers used Friday night: aircraft can reduce the need for risky ground chases, especially when suspects are driving erratically or blowing through controlled intersections. In this case, Fresno police accepted the loss of the ground pursuit and relied on the helicopter until the suspect’s driving brought the chase to an end.