A wanted parolee was taken into custody after a standoff Sunday afternoon in northwest Fresno, police said. The 36-year-old man was seen by officers in the 4900 block of North Holt Avenue in front of his mother's apartment. When he saw the officers, he ran into the home.

About an hour later, he was found by a police dog hiding in a closet.

He was arrested and booked into the Fresno County Jail...

Fresno police officers arrested a wanted parolee in central Fresno on Sunday morning on suspicion of car theft and possession of marijuana for sale.

Officers said they spotted a 2005 BMW 525 that had been reported stolen in Fresno and tried to get the driver to pull over around 11 a.m. Sunday. The driver sped up to 70 mph at Gettysburg and Blackstone avenues and officers called off their pursuit.

Officers found the car with the doors locked a short time later at the Save Mart Supermarket parking lot at Ashlan and West avenues...

Fresno County Sheriff's Deputies are asking for the public's help in locating an armed and dangerous parolee.

Deputies are searching for 26-year-old Sonny Wayne Sanders, in connection with an attempted armed robbery and other felonies.

Sanders is accused of brandishing a handgun as he attempted to rob a recycling business back on June 18th, near Olive and Valentine...

Fresno County Sheriff's investigators have identified two men wanted for a murder in Sunnyside.

26-year-old Edgar Campos was found shot to death early Wednesday morning at a home near Villa and Clay. Neighbors say they heard as many as five gunshots. Detectives believe there was some sort of disturbance earlier that may have led to the shooting.

The suspects have been identified as Ramon Vargas and Saul Rojas. They both have several tattoos. Rojas is also a parolee.

If you have any information, you're asked to contact the sheriff's office.

A parolee is back behind bars after leading officers on a pursuit through 2 counties. Just prior to 1am on Friday morning, Fresno Police officers had tried to pull over Victor Mata in South East Fresno (around Clinton and 9th Street).

However, Mata refused to stop and headed over to the 41 Freeway (northbound). This was when Fresno PD asked the CHP for assistance. The CHP took over the pursuit at Freeway 41 and Friant. This is when Mata lead CHP officers into Madera County.

Mata finally stopped at Highway 41 and Road 208. The vehicle he was driving happened to be stolen…

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims is asking for the public's help in locating a Fresno parolee who they believe is connected to an assault from last week.

Deputies are searching for 23-year-old Fabian Gonzalez, or Jesus Gonzalez as he's often called.

Deputies say that back on October 13th, Gonzalez entered the Fresno County Welfare Office and located his wife who was inside. He then began yelling at her, and pulled out a handgun from his pants. Gonzalez attempted to fire the gun at her, however the gun malfunctioned and didn't fire…

A parolee was arrested Saturday morning near the Claremont Correctional Center in Coalinga after he allegedly threw a soccer ball full of drugs and cell phones over the prison fence.

Correctional staff members had received a tip about the scheme beforehand and notified the Coalinga Police Department, which called the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives went to the prison, which is operated by the city of Coalinga, and watched as a man threw a ball into the prison compound…

Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga is still plagued with crowding, inadequate medical care and concerns that inmates could be exposed to Valley fever, according to a Fresno County grand jury report issued Thursday.

A grand jury report last year addressed the same problems and also issued the same recommendations.

The most recent report said a visit by grand jurors in late September revealed that the prison, designed to hold 2,200 inmates, housed 5,191 inmates — including some in a gymnasium…

Overcrowding in California prisons has become a serious issue. The situation is so bad that a special panel of Federal Judges tentatively ruled that the state will have to release as many as 58,000 inmates over the next few years. But not everyone agrees it's the right thing to do. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says as President of the California Police Chiefs Association, he testified before the three Judge Panel in San Francisco, and presented them with alternatives to releasing inmates early.

"We are facing a crisis at the local level and at the state level when these individuals get out," said Chief Dyer. According to Dyer, if tens of thousands of prisoners are released early, a minimum of 1,900 of them will return to Fresno…

Nearly two dozen inmates charged with nonviolent misdemeanors are the first to be released from Fresno County Jail as the sheriff's department responds to budget cuts.

Sheriff Margaret Mims has said she needs to release 800 inmates, close two floors of the jail and lay off 50 correctional officers to meet a proposed $2.8 million budget cut.

Twenty-two male inmates were set free Tuesday in the first wave of releases…

A group of local supporters of an anti-gang initiative said Thursday that nearly 800,000 signatures have been collected statewide to place the measure on the November election ballot. […] Reynolds said the initiative needs only 434,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The measure would increase prison terms for some gang-related crimes, deny bail to undocumented immigrants, require convicted gang members to register with local authorities, impose felony penalties on serial graffiti offenders and create an early intervention and rehabilitation commission.

About $340 million a year would be provided for anti-crime programs, including about $8.5 million for Fresno County, Reynolds said…

Fresno City Council members approved a controversial halfway house and privately run correctional facility along 'motel drive' Tuesday night, despite a crowd of people who showed up to protest the move. The former hotel will eventually house up to 300 women.

Fresno City Councilmember Mike Dages and Henry T. Perea were the only two council members who voted against the project. "I just can't see myself supporting this today," Dages said, as he explained approving the project would give a green light for others throughout the city.

Neighborhood residents and former prostitute turned community activist Carissa Phelps also attended the meeting. "We've just seen the City of Fresno really cement us in some bad precedence that sets up to be a dumping ground for prisoners all over the state," Phelps said as she left the council chambers…

Opponents of the proposal fell generally into three categories. Many of the neighbors in the vicinity of the project did not want the facility located at the Hacienda because they were concerned about the impact the project would have on the area. […] People making this argument, which was heard several times at the hearing, said that the Addams Neighborhood has enough problems - "we don't need a prison to add to an already difficult situation."

Another group of opponents argued that opening a privately run prison in the middle of Fresno was not a good way to resolve the over crowding problems at the State Correctional Facilities in California. They presented a petition, signed by thousands of women inmates, saying that they do not want a facility like the one being proposed to be approved.

The third argument against accepting the proposal was more of a procedural argument. Several people, including an appearance by Fresno County Board of Supervisor member Phil Larson, complained that insufficient notice was given to neighbors to discuss this important issue. Most of the people making this argument wanted to have more time before a decision was made…

Auberry Residents React to Recent Murder
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office released a picture of the suspect, 29 year-old Kenneth Wilson, who has been known go by the name of Kenneth Miranda. In addition for currently being sought after for murder, Wilson is also a wanted parolee that deputies have been looking for for some time now…

Carissa Phelps (www.carissaproject.com/) got it right when she warned the community that if they did not act fast, a private corporation was going to develop the old Hacienda Hotel into a state prison, complete with razor wire, correctional officers, and high security. Phelps said that some city officials approved of the plan because it would provide some emergency housing for homeless women and it passed the Planning Commission on a 7-0 vote. Going into Wednesday night's "Truth on the Table" tour, set up by Fresno mayor Alan Autry, the proposal seemed like a slam dunk…

Supervisors are worried about increased costs for jails, courts and the sheriff in a county that has had its own jail crowding problems. "We need to send a message loud and clear that we will not accept prisoners back into the county," Supervisor Henry Perea said. "At some point the bad guys are going to figure out there's no consequences," he added. "That's not good for the county…"