According to the Merced Police Department, officers arrested two individuals on residential burglary charges.

On March 30, 2020, at approximately 3:00 a.m, officers from the Merced police department responded to an address in northeast Merced for a residential burglary that had just occurred.

Upon further investigation, it was determined that a suspect entered the victim’s garage and took two boxes of ammunition before leaving in a silver-colored sedan.

At approximately 6:05 a.m., Merced Police officer Brian Laguna located the suspect vehicle in the 3100 blk of R street.

Officer Laguna identified 26-year-old Joseph Malta and 35-year-old Linda Salazar as responsibles in the residential
burglary.

During a search of the vehicle, the property was recovered along with narcotics.

Officers also located an explosive device similar to a modified M80 in the vehicle as well. The Merced Police department bomb unit responded to collect it.

Joseph Malta and Linda Salazar were booked into the MCSO jail.

The public can send information via anonymous text messages to the police department by dialing “TIP411” (847411) and including the word “Comvip” as the “keyword” in the text message.