Madera County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of a stolen UTV from the Road 416 area, and was later seen traveling northbound on State Route 41.
After brief pursuit by CHP on Sunday, the suspect abandoned the vehicle near SR41 and Celechovsky Court before fleeing on foot into the brush toward Road 425.
A short time later, the suspect was captured on a Ring camera on Serpa Canyon tampering with a residential water pump. He fled again when CHP officers arrived. CHP Air Operations searched the area, but the suspect was not located due to the dense vegetation and rugged terrain.
Later that afternoon, the suspect was located in Camp Oakhurst off Mudge Ranch Road. Camp Oakhurst staff escorted the suspect off the property.
The suspect, later identified as Kevin Marquez, is believed to have trespassed on private property and committed a grand theft in the area.
Just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, MCSO deputies were dispatched to a suspicious person call in the area of Mudge Ranch Road. A homeowner reported that a man matching the description of the wanted suspect was at their front door asking them to make a phone call on his behalf.
Deputies quickly responded, and saturated the area after positively identifying the man as the same suspect sought the previous day.
Deputies, assisted by K9 Obie, located Marquez hiding behind a brush pile across the roadway. Marquez was taken into custody without incident, and booked into the Madera County Jail.