Bomb squad blows up suspected explosive after Dos Palos chase and standoff

Merced’s police bomb squad detonated a suspected explosive device found at a Dos Palos property where a man wanted in a violent attack on his ex-girlfriend surrendered after a high-speed chase and a 30-minute standoff Thursday, Nov. 12, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said.

Detectives also found several guns and ammunition at the property, off Center Avenue.

Deputies had been looking for Gordon McCarty Jr., 52, of Dos Palos, since Nov. 1, when a woman reported that her ex-boyfriend had violently attacked her in Madera County, according to the sheriff’s office. The office said she suffered several significant injuries. It identified McCarty as the ex-boyfriend.

McCarty was booked into the Madera County Jail on suspicion of torture, robbery, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence and attempted homicide. He was also wanted on a probation violation warrant, the sheriff’s office said. He hasn’t been convicted of the new charges, and the office didn’t say when he is due in court.

The chase

On Nov. 12, Madera County detectives tracked McCarty to a home on North Russell Avenue, south of South Dos Palos, in Fresno County. When detectives and deputies arrived to serve a search warrant, McCarty drove off at high speed, the sheriff’s office said.

The office’s plane, Falcon 1, followed him from overhead. No patrol cars were directly behind him, but he kept driving recklessly at high speeds, according to the sheriff’s office.

He stopped at a home off Center Avenue, south of Eucalyptus Road, in Dos Palos. Madera County deputies, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office and Dos Palos police surrounded the property and ordered him to come out. After about 30 minutes, McCarty walked out of a mobile trailer and surrendered without further incident, the office said.

The suspected explosive

Detectives found the device when they searched the Center Avenue property after McCarty surrendered, the sheriff’s office said. The Merced Police Department’s bomb squad came out and safely detonated it.

The sheriff’s office didn’t say where in Madera County the Nov. 1 attack happened or what the device was.

Sources: Madera County Sheriff’s Office, Nov. 13, 2026.