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CRIME DIGEST
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FORGERY ARRESTS: CERES - Employees of Walmart called police Oct. 9 after a woman tried passing a suspicious looking check.

Police said that Erin K. Beachamp, 19, of Modesto, was at the store at 12:19 p.m. with the forged check. Waiting for her in the parking lot were Brandon M. Turner, 23, and Joseph A. Buss, 27, both of Modesto. All three were arrested. Buss said the check was his but the account number was fraudulent.

Upon seeing officers approach his vehicle Turner tried to pull away. Turner was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and resisting arrest.

Buss was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud.

Beachamp was charged with forgery and conspiracy to commit fraud.

KEYES TEENS ARRESTED FOR AUTO THEFT: CERES - Five Keyes teenagers were arrested in Ceres on Sunday morning, Oct. 11 after they participated in car thefts through the night.

All the boys, three of whom were 14, one who was 15 and one who was 16, were booked into Juvenile Hall on a variety of theft and possession of burglary tools and stolen property charges.

At 12:05 a.m. police dispatchers were called by someone in the 1700 block of Don Pedro Road who reported an auto theft in progress. The suspects were leaving in a 1998 Honda Accord. Officer Fredy Ortiz made a stop on the vehicle on Central Avenue.

The vehicle, a 1997 Honda, was stolen earlier in Modesto.

All five boys had in their possession shaved keys which are considered burglary tools.

CHP CHASE ENDS AT GEORGE'S LIQUORS: CERES - Police assisted other agencies in arresting a suspect who was driving a stolen car on Monday, Oct. 12.

Ceres officers joined the pursuit as it entered Ceres on Morgan Road and went westbound on Whitmore Avenue. When the chase reached Dallas and Crowslanding other CHP officers joined in. The chase then came onto Highway 99 at Crowslanding.

The chase later came back into Ceres and ended at 8:25 p.m. at George's Liquors in Ceres. A total of eight CHP cruisers were involved.

No information was available on the suspect.

BRANDISHING A SHOTGUN: CERES - Police arrested an intoxicated bar patron early Monday morning after he allegedly brandished a loaded firearm in the parking lot of La Cueva bar on Central Avenue.

Police arrived shortly after the 12:28 a.m. 911 call and found Patrick Martinez, 22, of Merced, standing unarmed outside his vehicle. Officers spotted the shotgun lying in the passenger seat.

He was arrested for public intoxication and possession of a loaded firearm.

SUV STOLEN BY OWNER'S SON: CERES - A 22-year-old Ceres man was arrested after he stole his father's 2005 Cadillac Escalade on Thursday, Oct. 15.

The SUV was left in a trucking company parking lot in the 3600 block of Mitchell Road as its owner was making an out-of-state trucking run. At 1:06 p.m. someone called 911 to report that the car had just left the parking lot and was suspected stolen. The trucker's wife called her husband and the two immediately suspected their son since car keys were missing from the house.

At 3:37 p.m. the vehicle was located in the 2400 block of Kona. As police approached the residence Pampal Johal, 22, of Ceres, tried to flee out the back and hide in a shed.

Johal was arrested for auto theft, possession of stolen property and resisting arrest.

TEENS STEAL FOOD: CERES - Saying they were hungry, two Ceres teens were arrested Thursday after taking food from Richland Market. At 1:06 p.m. store personnel said the two boys, one 15 and the other 17, ordered a deli sandwich and Chinese food and then tried to take off out the door. One boy was stopped by personnel and the other was found at the Ceres skatepark.

The boys were arrested on charges of burglary and conspiracy.

MORE CASES OF ARSON: CERES - Ceres police are hoping to catch the arsonist who has been striking at areas north of Hatch Road.

At 3:47 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, someone attempted to burn down a vacant house in the 1400 block of Stonum Road.

Then on Friday at 2:57 a.m. as Ceres police were checking out reports of possible gunshots in the area of Hatch and Central, officers smelled smoke and followed it to a fire in a car behind JFK School. When police arrived the car was fully engulfed in flames.

The fires join the first case on Oct. 6 in which two vehicles parked in the 1700 block of Ocean Way were set ablaze. Arsonists broke into a 1992 Honda Accord and 1997 Toyota Corolla and set both ablaze and fled.

FRIENDS GO OUT STEALING CARS: CERES - Police stopped a night of car stealing and joyriding for four teenagers from Modesto on Friday evening.

At 8:40 p.m. officer Coey Henson saw two vehicles being driven recklessly in the area of Fifth and North streets. He tried to make a stop on the vehicles and in the pursuit one of the cars made it through the roundabout at Lawrence and Fifth streets while the second car, a white 1990 Honda Accord, collided wth a pole in the roundabout. Two 13-year-olds from Modesto were arrested.

Patrol units searched for the second car, a 1993 Honda Civic, and found it abandoned on Highway 99 near Richland Avenue.

A short while later, at 9:08 p.m. officer Dan Fairchilds found two kids matching the suspects' description in the area of Bystrum and Pecos. Arrested were 13- and 15-year-olds.

The thefts of the two Hondas were so fresh that they hadn't been reported stolen yet. One was taken from the Winco parking lot while the other was taken from downtown Modesto. The kids told their parents they would be watching a movie but decided to steal cars because others told them how easy it was with shaved keys.

All four juveniles were arrested on charges of auto theft, possession of stolen property, evading arrest, conspiracy and driving without a license.

MAN ARRESTED AFTER TERRORIZING MATE: CERES - A man was arrested Saturday morning after he allegedly struck his partner during a spousal spat and then fired shots inside their home.

At 8:32 a.m. a tenant in the apartment building at 1301 Richland Avenue called 911 to report hearing a man and woman yelling and something being slammed against the wall. The caller also heard three gunshots inside the apartment and saw the men run out a vehicle in the parking lot and then flee on foot.

Officers arrived and found an injured 22-year-old female and a year-old infant inside. They determined that three rounds had been fired into the floor of the upstairs unit. Nobody was hit.

Officer Vanessa Garcia went searching for the suspect and found him inside Kmart. Hugo Villasenor Rojas, 28, of Ceres, tried to throw off police by tossing his wallet inside the store but a store employee saw it and helped police recover it. Inside the wallet Rojas had a counterfeit license.

Police found a 9mm handgun from the car. It had apparently jammed after the third round.

Rojas was arrested on charges of spousal battery, child endangerment, brandishing a firearm, negligent discharge of a handgun, possession of a loaded handgun in and possession of a false ID.

WEEKEND DUI ARRESTS: CERES - The weekend was another busy one for DUI arrests.

The first arrest came Saturday night at 11:42 p.m. in the 600 block of Whitmore Avenue when officer Coey Henson saw Mario L. Ascencio, 26, of Hayward, driving westbound in eastbound lanes. Ascencio was arrested for DUI.

At 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Officer Josh Klinge observed car hit a curb in the 2900 block of Hatch Road and pulled over Mauro H. Flores, 58, of Hughson. He appeared intoxicated and was arrested.

At 2:01 a.m. Sgt. Dennis Perry stopped a car for speeding in the 3000 block of Fourth Street and arrested Julio Munoz, 25, of Modesto, for DUI. Passenger Valentin Mata, 25, of Modesto, had an Oakdale warrant for possession of burglary tools.

SHOTS FIRED ON SHADOW BROOK: CERES - Police said they found 20 to 30 spent shell casings on the ground in the 2300 block of Shadow Brook early Sunday morning after someone reported shots being fired at a party there. However, there are hardly any other clues.

Deputy Chief of Police Mike Borges said the persons involved were not cooperating and it appears that no houses nor persons were hit by the rounds.

The first call came in at 3:39 a.m.

ARREST AFTER ARGUS FIGHT: CERES - An early Sunday morning fight in the parking lot of Argus High School led to the arrest of one man.

Two men who knew each other were practicing music all night and drinking when they got into a fight in the lot. Neither men wanted to press charges against each other but officers learned that Phillip Esparza, 25, of Ceres, was the subject of a CHP warrant for drunk driving.

The incident occurred at 4:07 a.m.