Atascadero police arrested two men after one of them attempted to pass a forged check Monday afternoon.
Police said they responded to Mechanics Bank located in the 6900 block of El Camino Real around 3:08 p.m., regarding a suspect who ran away after trying to pass a forged check.
When the officer arrived, they saw a vehicle quickly drive away from the area the suspect reportedly ran to, officers said.
The officer then followed the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop in the area of Curbaril Avenue and Coromar Avenue. When the vehicle stopped, two people left the car and ran away, one of them carried a handgun. Meanwhile, the driver stayed in the vehicle.
Officers said suspect descriptions were then provided to responding assisting units.
Police found and arrested one suspect matching the description on the southbound Curbaril offramp of US 101 while walking northbound. The other suspect was later arrested in a restroom at Smart and Final.
Both were positively identified by the officer who conducted the traffic stop and the back surveillance of the suspect passing a forged check.
A K9 unit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, trained in the section of firearms/ ammunition, found a handgun in a backyard in the area the suspects had fled, according to the police.
Issac Ward Taberez, 30, and Sebastian Reneealonzo Yciano, 23, both from Paso Robles, were arrested and booked at San Luis Obispo County Jail.
Tabarez was arrested on a number of charges related to the original forgery incident and resisting arrest.
Yciano was arrested related to possession of a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, narcotics possession and resisting arrest.
Police said the driver of the vehicle was not arrested.
