A Patterson man previously arrested in Turlock for human trafficking was apprehended again on June 6 – this time in Ceres – for allegedly trafficking the same victim, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect, Alex Santana, 24, was in possession of a loaded firearm when he was arrested outside a Ceres motel. He made an attempt to flee from detectives but was quickly apprehended after his shoe fell off.
Santana was first arrested for human trafficking on Jan. 27 as part of the statewide “Reclaim and Rebuild” operation. He was found in Turlock with a 19-year-old woman who he was trafficking for sex, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Santana was arrested on suspicion of pimping, procuring a person for prostitution and a parole violation. Santana, who has multiple convictions for carjacking and possession of a firearm, was paroled from prison after a conviction for a carjacking in May 2022.
Sheriff’s detectives discovered an online sex ad with the same 19-year-old woman around the beginning of this month.
“In an attempt to rescue the woman a second time, they conducted an undercover operation, acting as a sex buyer,” the Sheriff’s Department noted in news release.
Detectives arrived at a Ceres motel and found the woman and Santana. Santana was ordered at gunpoint to exit his vehicle. He complied at first but slipped away from detectives and ran off through the parking lot. His attempt to flee was short-lived as he lost both shoes and tripped over his own feet. He was quickly caught and placed in handcuffs.
As Santana was being searched, he told the detectives he had a gun and they found a loaded firearm.
Sheriff’s detectives worked with local non-profit organizations specializing in human trafficking to assist the teen woman and she was relocated to a safe place.
Santana was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center and held without bail on charges of pimping, pandering, a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, a felon in possession of ammunition, not the registered owner of the firearm, parole violation, committing a felony while on bail and obstructing law enforcement.
