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CRIME DIGEST
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SUSPECTED DRUNK DRIVER ENDS UP IN CANAL: CERES - Thomas Buantello, 35, of Turlock, was arrested for drunk driving after he crashed his car into the TID Main Canal June 27.

The car went into the canal in the 1500 block of Hatch Road at 2:16 a.m. Officers found the vehicle and asked Buantello and his passenger to get out. Both men refused to get out of the car initially but later cooperated with police.

No one was injured.

RECKLESS DRIVER CRASHES: CERES - The driver of a wrecked gray Mitsubishi Gallant fled the scene of where it crashed early on the morning of Saturday, June 27. The 2:47 a.m. car crash occurred in the area of Grand Central and Central avenues. The impact popped all four tires and the car was blocking a driveway of a nearby residence. A witness said that four males ran from the car before police arrived. The vehicle was towed and stored.

WOMAN TRIES PASSING BAD CHECK: CERES - Agatha Bell, 36, of Modesto, was arrested June 27 after she tried to cash a check drawn on a closed account at Cost Less Foods on Hatch Road. When Officer Ron Collins arrived after the 6:54 a.m. call, he spoke to Bell and determined that she was under the influence of cocaine. She was also on parole for possession of stolen property. Bell was arrested on charges of burglary, fraud, being under the influence of control substance and violating her parole.

STORE THEFT LEADS TO ARREST: CERES - Dawn Booke, 38, of Modesto, was charged with felony violation of a petty theft with a prior conviction for theft, after she was found with goods stolen from Cost Less Foods on June 27. Someone at the store called police at 3:29 p.m. after seeing four women leaving the store without paying for goods.

Officer Josh Klinge located the suspects' vehicle on Central Avenue near Darrah Street and conducted a traffic stop. All four women were detained. It was learned that Booke hid the stolen merchandise in a bush in an alley near Giddings Road.

NINE DUI ARRESTS DURING GRAVEYARD SHIFT: CERES - On one of the hottest nights this summer, police made nine arrests for unrelated DUIs during an 11-hour graveyard shift on June 27-28.

Arrested for driving under the influence were:

• Jose Mojica, 21, of Modesto, at 7:17 p.m. in the 1300 block of Hatch Rd.;

• Ivan Gutierrez, 27, of Ceres, at 9:40 p.m. in the 3800 block of Southwood Drive;

• Steve Kambar, 22, of Modesto, at 9:50 p.m. in the 1200 block of Mitchell Rd.;

• Scott Pico, 40, of Ceres, at 12:06 a.m. in the 1500 block of Moffett Rd.;

• Frank Torres, 42, of Ceres, at 12:08 a.m. in the 2800 block of Fowler.

• Jose Reyes, 53, of Modesto, at 12:09 a.m. in the 2100 block of Hatch Rd.;

• Delino Jermano, 35, of Ceres, at12:09 a.m. in the 1800 block of Ficus;

• A 16-year-old Ceres boy, at 12:52 a.m. in the 2000 block of Central Ave.;

• Juan Arreolaafaro, 30, of Hughson, at 6:19 a.m. in the 2900 block of Whitmore Avenue.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGED: CERES - Angel Sanchez, 21, of Ceres, faces a variety of domestic violence charges related to two alleged acts committed six days apart.

At 5:25 p.m. on Sunday, June 28 officers responded to Smyrna Park on a report that Sanchez was getting violent with the estranged mother of his children. Sanchez allegedly grabbed the woman by her neck, leaving red marks, before fleeing. Three hours later Sanchez was located by police in the 2700 block of Malik Drive and arrested on charges of battery.

He also faces additional charges of burglary, vandalism, and dissuading a witness relating to a June 22 incident involving the same woman. At 10:50 p.m. Sanchez reportedly climbed through a window of her home in the 2800 block of Alphonse Drive. At the time of the break-in her 16-year-old sister was babysitting. The teen heard Sanchez entering the house, gathered up the children and hid in another bedroom. Police said Sanchez kicked open the door, then disabled the phone to keep the girl from calling 9-1-1, telling her she was not going to call. Sanchez then allegedly grabbed his 10-month-old son and fled. Attempts to have the baby returned that night were not successful.

CHIEF INTERRUPTS ROBBERY: CERES - Police Chief Art de Werk was out on patrols early on the morning of July 5 when he spotted someone beating on a car with a baseball bat in the parking lot of the AM/PM at the corner of Ninth and Whitmore. It turned out that the person with the bat was a clerk trying to stop a robber.

At 12:58 a.m. de Werk called for back up and had officers chase down the driver, Esteban Magana, 18, of Modesto. He was stopped and arrested on charges of robbery and DUI. His passenger, Martin Rodriguez, 22, of Tracy, was cited for public intoxication.

The clerk said Magana had walked into the store and asked for cigars even though another customer was at the counter in front of him. When he was told to wait Magana allegedly grabbed the woman's purchases on the counter and ran out the store. Both the customer and clerk went out to confront Magana as he was getting inside his car.

MAN TRIES DROWNING DOG: CERES - Police made an arrest early Sunday of a man who allegedly tried to drown a police canine in a bizarre crime.

Officer Joe Wren and police canine Axel were at Prime Shine Express car wash on Hatch Road at 2:19 a.m. when a driver saw him and yelled that there was a man riding on his bumper. Apparently the driver had stopped at Hatch and Richland when a man jumped on the car. When he saw the officer, Luis Barraza, 21, of Ceres, jumped off the car and started running. Barraza went into a filled canal nearby and Wren released the dog to stop him. In the struggle Barraza was seen trying to hold the dog's head below water in an attempt to drown him. At that point Officer Wren and Sgt. Trenton Johnson jumped in to help the dog. Deputy Chief Mike Borges said the dog puked up water he had taken in.

Barraza was charged with assault on a police canine and resisting arrest.

He told police that he jumped on the man's car that he was drunk and only wanted a free ride.

MARIJUANA BROWNIES INGESTED BY CHILD: CERES - Robin Vanderheiden, 30, of Ceres, was issued a misdemeanor for child endangerment after his two-year-old child found and ate marijuana-laced brownies in the 2300 block of Hidden Oak.

Police were called by Doctors Medical Center in Modesto where the child was taken for being under the influence of marijuana on July 5. Police made contact with the dad at 10:09 p.m. and found him to be sorry for what happened.

PIZZA PARLOR EMBEZZLEMENT: CERES - A 23-year-old Turlock man was arrested Sunday for allegedly embezzling money from the Round Table Pizza in Ceres.

Police were called at 11 a.m. Sunday by someone who alleged that the female supervisor was conspiring with her boyfriend, Bret Beringer, to take deposits stored in the restaurant's safe.

Beringer was traced to a motel in Turlock where police found approximately a third of the missing cash, as well as drugs. He was arrested on charges of embezzlement, burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, violating the terms of his parole, and possession of a controlled substance.

Police said that the district attorney's office may issue a complaint against the female supervisor but Deputy Chief Mike Borges would not release her name.

BUSINESSES RIPPED OFF: CERES - Police report that someone used a blow torch to cut through doors of two businesses in the last week.

At 4:33 a.m. on July 1 an alarm went off at Richland Ace Hardware. Officers arrived and found the back door cut open and some tools reported missing.

The same method of entry was used to steal flat screen TVs and computers from the Hatch Road Staples store at 5:54 a.m. on July 5.

MAN ACCUSED OF ASSAULT: CERES - A 60-year-old Colony Park Estates Mobilehome Park resident was arrested and booked for spousal abuse and assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly struck his 43-year-old girlfriend in the face with a box fan.

The incident occurred at 10:06 p.m. on Thursday, July 2.

Jorge Bettencourt, 60, said the woman struck him first. But he retaliated with more serious force - injuring the woman above her eyes - he was considered the main aggressor and was arrested.