3 arrested for carjacking and robberies in northwest Fresno, police say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Three people are in custody after a series of carjackings and robberies in Northwest Fresno on Tuesday night.

Police say 20-year-old gang member Jinathan Kelley and 19-year-old Michael Hernandez have been booked into the Fresno County jail, but not before they gave people in the area a scare.

It started at 10:30 Tuesday night when police received a call of two men with a gun who carjacked three women at the Walmart on Shaw and Brawley.

An hour later, a man and woman were carjacked in the River Park parking structure as they were working on their vehicle. Since the car was having mechanical issues, officials say it ended up breaking down as the suspects tried to drive it.

Police say the suspects got out of the car and stole the man and woman's cell phones.

Then, 30 minutes later, officers say two people had a gun pulled on them at the Dutch Bros on Palm and Herndon avenues.

Fresno resident Gentry Rocha says she was not happy to hear the incident happened so close to home.

"Oh wow that's terrible, oh wow that's awful. Stuff is getting really bad these days you know," said Rocha. "You just gotta try and do things through the day maybe, yeah, try and be as safe as you can."

Stan Jones has lived in Fresno for almost 40 years. He stressed the importance of always watching your surroundings, because you don't know where or when an incident can occur.

"I'm always looking behind me, I always watch my own back. If no one is with me, I have to watch my own back," Jones said. "You can get jacked anywhere, you can be at church. And the church can be in a part of town where no crime ever happens, it could be that one time."

After midnight, officials say Kelley, Hernandez, and a 17-year-old were arrested after crashing their car into a tree at Spruce and Hayes. They tried to run, but police were able to quickly track them down.

"We are thankful that there was no violence, and that no one was injured in this," Fresno Police Lt. Leslie Williams said. "We are always thankful for people who call and report things no matter how small because we never know what they might be related to."

Officers say they also found two replica guns and a ghost gun inside of the vehicle.

Police say only two of the three were involved in the first carjacking, but all three were involved in the rest of the crimes.

They also say one of the two stolen cell phones was found on the road at Blackstone and Nees.

No one was hurt. If you have any additional information regarding these crimes, please reach out to Fresno Police.

For news updates, follow Brittany Jacob on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.