Two accidents – just a few minutes apart – prompted a search of an orchard in Escalon on Saturday night, Feb. 12 as authorities looked for a carjacking suspect.

At about 8:15 p.m., emergency crews were dispatched to the report of a vehicle accident at Mariposa and Escalon-Bellota roads, responding to an overturned vehicle with two occupants.

Prior to their arrival, authorities said the driver of the overturned vehicle carjacked a subject who had stopped to see if they needed help. The passenger in the overturned vehicle, meanwhile, was determined to have minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to San Joaquin General Hospital.

After the driver took the second vehicle, he was then involved in another crash, which occurred just a few minutes later, at 8:22 p.m.

In that case, the stolen car crashed into a power pole near the intersection of Escalon and Miller avenues, bringing lines down across the roadway.

The carjacking suspect then fled that scene and several law enforcement agencies converged on the area, searching for the driver.

Personnel with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department, the CHP and the Escalon Police Department were all involved in looking for the suspect, who authorities said was eventually located in an orchard near the area of Stanislaus and North streets, not far from Saron Lutheran Church.

Officials said he was taken into custody but no other information was available from any of the involved agencies by press time on Monday, Feb. 14.