• PURSUIT ENDS IN ARREST: CERES - Police units assisted in a CHP officer chase of a suspect on Nov. 24.
At 12:46 p.m. a CHP officer tried to pull over a blue Durango which had mechanical violations in the area of Seventh and Pecos in South Modesto. The driver, Luis Ahumada of Empire, led the officer on a 15-minute, 19-mile pursuit that snaked through South Modesto, Ceres and then into Turlock. Ceres officers joined in the chase at 1:02 p.m. in the area of Hatch and Herndon. The units continued with the chase until dropping out at Hatch Road and Santa Fe Avenue. The driver was finally apprehended on Countryside Drive in Turlock, said Eric Parsons, Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol.
Ahumada was arrested and charged with evading a police officer, driving without a license and possession of a controlled substance.
• ARRESTED FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: CERES - Rajiv Mehta, 40, of Ceres, was arrested and charged with domestic violence and child abuse after his wife reported that she was injured by him.
The victim reported to police on Dec. 1 that she was assaulted by Mehta on Nov. 25 and asked for police assistance to get her property from a residence where he was staying. The woman was in hiding at a friend's house and did not immediately report the crime. Police helped the victim obtain an emergency protective order to get Mehta out of the residence.
Mehta reportedly locked his two children, aged 5 and 9, in a laundry room for up to four hours. He is accused of physically and mentally abusing the children, said Deputy Chief of Police Mike Borges.
• WIRE STRIPPED FROM CITY FACILITIES: CERES - Wire thieves caused thousands of dollars in damage as they attempted to strip copper wiring from two city facilities on two separate occasions last week.
At approximately 11 a.m. on Dec. 1, a thousand feet of copper wire were stolen from the automatic gates at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park on Hatch Road. The wire had an estimated value of $600 to $800 but will cost thousands to repair.
And at 4:36 a.m. on Saturday a private security guard interrupted the theft of wire from 11 electrical boxes in the ground at Costa Fields in Smyrna Park. The stripped wire had been stacked up near Garrison Avenue as the thieves planned to load it up into a vehicle.
"The copper wire thieves are back," commented Borges.
•HIT WITH A HAMMER: CERES - A 25-year-old Ceres woman was arrested Dec. 1 after allegedly smacking an estranged boyfriend in the head with a small fist-sized sledge hammer.
Shelby J. Hanson was arrested after police were called at 1:25 p.m. in the 3000 block of Service Road. The 29-year-old victim lost a small piece of his ear when the hammer struck him, said Borges.
Hanson was arrested for domestic violence, and committing a crime while on bail for a prior felony.
• TWO CHARGES IN A DAY: CERES - Julie A. Cottel, 41, of Ceres, was arrested twice on Dec. 1 on alcohol related charges.
At 2:19 p.m. an off-duty CHP officer found Cottel passed out behind the wheel of her car that was stopped in the exit of a commercial parking lot in the 1700 block of Mitchell Road. The car was also partially blocking a lane of traffic. Police were called to make an arrest and Cottel was booked for DUI.
At 9:16 p.m. later that evening, Cottel was arrested again, this time for public intoxication at Morgan and Aristocrat.
• ATTEMPTED AUTO THEFT: CERES - Two men were arrested Dec. 3 for allegedly trying to steal a 1992 Chevy Tahoe SUV in the Ceres Walmart parking lot.
The owners of the car returned from the store at 9 p.m. and saw a man in their car. The man jumped out and into a nearby car and got away. A short time later officer Dirk Nieuwenhuis found the suspects in the area of Eastgate and Hatch. He arrested parolees Brian E. Hodge, 39, of Ceres and Thaddeus D. Pace, 35, and charged them with attempted auto theft, conpsiracy to commit a crime and violating the terms of parole.
Pace had a felony warrant for drug charges.
• TWO DUIs ON MITCHELL AT SAME TIME: CERES - Two women were allegedly driving drunk down Mitchell Road at the same time on Friday and both arrested and charged.
At 1:34 a.m. someone called to report drivers of two cars behaving erratically as they drove southbound on Mitchell Road. Officer Joe Wren stopped one driver while Brian Peterson made the other stop in the area of Mitchell and Service.
Elizabeth Lambert, 23, of Modesto, was arrested and charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license while Erica Willhittbutt, 22, of Turlock, was charged with DUI.
Police are unsure if the drivers were leaving the same location.
• SECURITY GUARD HURT: CERES - A security guard was cut in the face by one of two men he told to leave the Stanislaus County Recovery Center in Ceres.
The 37-year-old security guard was patrolling the grounds of the center at 2:49 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4 when he spotted two black males sitting in the playground area drinking beer. He told them to leave but when he returned 15 minutes later the men were still there. One of the men needed assistance getting up and that's when one of the men took a slap at the guard, cutting him in the forehead, possibly with a knife. The guard was taken to the hospital for stitches.
Police have few clues to go on, other than that one was possibly in his 30s and 5-foot-8 and the other was 6-foot-2, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. Both ran off eastbound from the scene.
• MOPED DRIVER ARRESTED FOR DUI: CERES - Stephen Pierce, 49, of Ceres, was arrested early Saturday morning after he was spotted riding a moped while intoxicated and on a suspended license.
Pierce was involved with a 2:50 a.m. disturbance call in the 1800 block of Boothe Road. An officer arriving in the area was nearly struck by Pierce as he failed to stop at the stop sign at Boothe and Primrose.
Pierce was also not wearing a helmet.
• RECKLESS DRIVING CHARGE: CERES - Colton C. Vincent, 21, of Elk Grove, was cited and released for reckless driving on the weekend.
Police said that a street was closed at Partee and Morgan for a fundraiser and that Vincent was seen in the intersection of Partee and Brewmaster spinning donuts in his car at 2:10 p.m.
The car show was shut down after the incident.
At 12:46 p.m. a CHP officer tried to pull over a blue Durango which had mechanical violations in the area of Seventh and Pecos in South Modesto. The driver, Luis Ahumada of Empire, led the officer on a 15-minute, 19-mile pursuit that snaked through South Modesto, Ceres and then into Turlock. Ceres officers joined in the chase at 1:02 p.m. in the area of Hatch and Herndon. The units continued with the chase until dropping out at Hatch Road and Santa Fe Avenue. The driver was finally apprehended on Countryside Drive in Turlock, said Eric Parsons, Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol.
Ahumada was arrested and charged with evading a police officer, driving without a license and possession of a controlled substance.
• ARRESTED FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: CERES - Rajiv Mehta, 40, of Ceres, was arrested and charged with domestic violence and child abuse after his wife reported that she was injured by him.
The victim reported to police on Dec. 1 that she was assaulted by Mehta on Nov. 25 and asked for police assistance to get her property from a residence where he was staying. The woman was in hiding at a friend's house and did not immediately report the crime. Police helped the victim obtain an emergency protective order to get Mehta out of the residence.
Mehta reportedly locked his two children, aged 5 and 9, in a laundry room for up to four hours. He is accused of physically and mentally abusing the children, said Deputy Chief of Police Mike Borges.
• WIRE STRIPPED FROM CITY FACILITIES: CERES - Wire thieves caused thousands of dollars in damage as they attempted to strip copper wiring from two city facilities on two separate occasions last week.
At approximately 11 a.m. on Dec. 1, a thousand feet of copper wire were stolen from the automatic gates at Ceres River Bluff Regional Park on Hatch Road. The wire had an estimated value of $600 to $800 but will cost thousands to repair.
And at 4:36 a.m. on Saturday a private security guard interrupted the theft of wire from 11 electrical boxes in the ground at Costa Fields in Smyrna Park. The stripped wire had been stacked up near Garrison Avenue as the thieves planned to load it up into a vehicle.
"The copper wire thieves are back," commented Borges.
•HIT WITH A HAMMER: CERES - A 25-year-old Ceres woman was arrested Dec. 1 after allegedly smacking an estranged boyfriend in the head with a small fist-sized sledge hammer.
Shelby J. Hanson was arrested after police were called at 1:25 p.m. in the 3000 block of Service Road. The 29-year-old victim lost a small piece of his ear when the hammer struck him, said Borges.
Hanson was arrested for domestic violence, and committing a crime while on bail for a prior felony.
• TWO CHARGES IN A DAY: CERES - Julie A. Cottel, 41, of Ceres, was arrested twice on Dec. 1 on alcohol related charges.
At 2:19 p.m. an off-duty CHP officer found Cottel passed out behind the wheel of her car that was stopped in the exit of a commercial parking lot in the 1700 block of Mitchell Road. The car was also partially blocking a lane of traffic. Police were called to make an arrest and Cottel was booked for DUI.
At 9:16 p.m. later that evening, Cottel was arrested again, this time for public intoxication at Morgan and Aristocrat.
• ATTEMPTED AUTO THEFT: CERES - Two men were arrested Dec. 3 for allegedly trying to steal a 1992 Chevy Tahoe SUV in the Ceres Walmart parking lot.
The owners of the car returned from the store at 9 p.m. and saw a man in their car. The man jumped out and into a nearby car and got away. A short time later officer Dirk Nieuwenhuis found the suspects in the area of Eastgate and Hatch. He arrested parolees Brian E. Hodge, 39, of Ceres and Thaddeus D. Pace, 35, and charged them with attempted auto theft, conpsiracy to commit a crime and violating the terms of parole.
Pace had a felony warrant for drug charges.
• TWO DUIs ON MITCHELL AT SAME TIME: CERES - Two women were allegedly driving drunk down Mitchell Road at the same time on Friday and both arrested and charged.
At 1:34 a.m. someone called to report drivers of two cars behaving erratically as they drove southbound on Mitchell Road. Officer Joe Wren stopped one driver while Brian Peterson made the other stop in the area of Mitchell and Service.
Elizabeth Lambert, 23, of Modesto, was arrested and charged with DUI and driving on a suspended license while Erica Willhittbutt, 22, of Turlock, was charged with DUI.
Police are unsure if the drivers were leaving the same location.
• SECURITY GUARD HURT: CERES - A security guard was cut in the face by one of two men he told to leave the Stanislaus County Recovery Center in Ceres.
The 37-year-old security guard was patrolling the grounds of the center at 2:49 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 4 when he spotted two black males sitting in the playground area drinking beer. He told them to leave but when he returned 15 minutes later the men were still there. One of the men needed assistance getting up and that's when one of the men took a slap at the guard, cutting him in the forehead, possibly with a knife. The guard was taken to the hospital for stitches.
Police have few clues to go on, other than that one was possibly in his 30s and 5-foot-8 and the other was 6-foot-2, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. Both ran off eastbound from the scene.
• MOPED DRIVER ARRESTED FOR DUI: CERES - Stephen Pierce, 49, of Ceres, was arrested early Saturday morning after he was spotted riding a moped while intoxicated and on a suspended license.
Pierce was involved with a 2:50 a.m. disturbance call in the 1800 block of Boothe Road. An officer arriving in the area was nearly struck by Pierce as he failed to stop at the stop sign at Boothe and Primrose.
Pierce was also not wearing a helmet.
• RECKLESS DRIVING CHARGE: CERES - Colton C. Vincent, 21, of Elk Grove, was cited and released for reckless driving on the weekend.
Police said that a street was closed at Partee and Morgan for a fundraiser and that Vincent was seen in the intersection of Partee and Brewmaster spinning donuts in his car at 2:10 p.m.
The car show was shut down after the incident.
