A 24-year-old Modesto man was arrested Thursday, two weeks after authorities said he carjacked an off-duty Merced County firefighter who’d stopped to help at the scene of a car crash.
Mauro Cervantes was involved in a crash Nov. 17 on El Capitan Way in Ballico. He was driving a Ford Explorer that crashed into a Dodge Caravan, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office said.
An off-duty firefighter, whose name has not been released, stopped to help and a man, later identified by investigators as Cervantes, took the firefighter’s silver Chevrolet Duramax pickup and his emergency response radio. The truck was recovered later that same day, Detective-Sgt. Chuck Hale said.