Video Shows Tense Scene Between Suspect, Madera Officer

It was a tense moment: A suspect in a stolen car, followed by a Madera police officer, suddenly skids to a stop and pops out of the vehicle.

Dashcam video on the patrol car of officer Ryan Vasquez shows the suspect, later identified as Curtis Kirkland, raising his hand “as if he was pointing a gun,” according to a post made Wednesday  on Madera Police Department’s Facebook account.
Kirkland strides toward Vasquez’s car, then quickly turns and runs as the officer emerges from his vehicle, Taser gun in hand.

Vasquez chases the suspect on foot and, out of the video’s frame, subdues Kirkland with the less-lethal electrical weapon, police said.
Police said Kirkland had warrants from Fresno County for burglary and assault on a custodial officer. In addition, heroin was found in the stolen car, police said.
Kirkland was booked into jail in Madera County.