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CRIME DIGEST
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GANG GRAFFITI SUSPECT ARRESTED: CERES - A 17-year-old boy was arrested May 17 after he was caught red-handed - literally with graffiti spraypaint on his hands.

Police received a call at 2:22 a.m. about a gang fight in the 2000 block of Evans Road. The participants scattered but the teen was found hiding in the 1600 block. His hands had spraypaint on them that matched tagging of numerous signs with Norteno gang graffiti. The area is known to police as being a Surreno neighborhood.

The boy was arrested for public intoxication and felony vandalism.

TRESPASSING CHARGE: CERES - Ruben Ybarra, 20, of Modesto, was arrested May 17 after he fled an officer in an alley in the 2900 block of Sixth Street.

Officer Freddy Ortiz was patrolling in the area at 12:17 a.m. when he spotted Ybarra and thought he was a teen in violation of the curfew. Ybarra started running and then jumped into a backyard.

Officer Joe Wren and police canine Axle found Ybarra and arrested him for resisting and delaying an officer and trespassing.

SON ALLEGEDLY CLOBBERS DAD WITH BOTTLE: CERES - Kyle Coombs, 20, of Ceres, was booked May 16 on assault with a deadly weapon charge after he allegedly bonked his father in the head with a wine bottle.

Coombs got into a fight with his father at their home in the 2400 block of Glasgow Avenue. The assault happened at 4:41 p.m. Coombs left the house but was found walking on the canal bank in the area of Hatch and Moffet.

THREATS LAND MAN IN JAIL: CERES - Police have arrested a man who had been ramping up threats of violence against a Mountain Ridge Drive family since April.

Jagroop Singh, 20, of Turlock, was arrested May 14 after police had been searching for him for a month.

Singh was arrested on a burglary warrant but was also charged with making threats - including death threats - against the family.

BURGLARY SUSPECTS ARRESTED: CERES - An alert neighbor in the 800 block of Grand Central Avenue helped police snag two men who were allegedly burglarizing a house on May 15.

The neighbor called police at 11:36 a.m. to say the two were riding bicycles away from a house and towing small trailers filled with goods. He suspected they were ripping off the house. Officer John Vera located the first suspect, Brandon Whiteley, 32, of Modesto, in the 800 block of Central Avenue. Police found $2,800 worth of stolen property including stereo and computer equipment, and were led to two others who were arrested in the River Road area. They were Glen Henneman and Jeffery Gonzales, both 24, and both of Modesto.

All three were booked on first-degree burglary charges.

They told police that they thought the house was vacant. They apparently entered the house through a vacant house next door and accessing the victims' yard through kicked-out fence boards.

INTERNET CONTACT LEADS TO ROBBERY: CERES - A 23-year-old man thought he was only going to meet a woman after meeting her on line but it was a set-up for a robbery, say police.

The man reported at 2:10 a.m. on May 14 that he was robbed after meeting the woman in the 3600 block of Don Pedro Road. The victim met the 23-year-old woman known as "Monique," who was described as a black woman who is 5-foot-3 and 165 pounds, during an I-phone chat. The woman asked him to meet her at the corner of Don Pedro and Timberly. He drove to the spot and saw that Monique was with a male. They get out of their cars and as he's talking to the pair, a second male came up from behind with a hand gun and they rob him of his wallet and phone.

Investigators traced the suspects to the 2800 block of Don Pedro Road, and served a search warrant on May 20. There they arrested Ceres residents Michael Davis, 19, and Kamani Trotter, 19. Evidence found linked the pair to the robbery.

SKATEBOARD ASSAULT: CERES - Police arrested a 17-year-old after he allegedly smacked a 20-year-old man in the back of the head with a skateboard on Wednesday, May 13. The assault occurred at 9:26 p.m. at the Smyrna Park skatepark. The teen got into a fight with the man over a girl when he smacked him in the head hard enough to cause a bleeding wound.

The teen, whose name was not released, was arrested on assault with a deadly weapon charge.

KNIFE SPELLS TROUBLE: CERES - A Ceres man was arrested for walking through a Ceres park May 13 as he held an 8-inch hunting knife in his hand walking past a woman.

The woman called 911 to report the man at 9:17 a.m. While the man didn't come toward the woman, she said he made her feel very uncomfortable. Police arrived and located Thomas Lopez, 46, who had concealed the knife under his clothing.

Lopez was arrested for being in possession of a dangerous weapon.

PROWLER ARRESTED: CERES - A 20-year-old Ceres man was arrested May 12 on a number of charges after he was spotted in a woman's backyard in the 3900 block of Harvestwood.

At 12:01 p.m. the woman called police after she saw the man through her kitchen window staring at her. The man fled.

Officer Jason Brock found Rocky Lambert, who was on parole for attempted kidnapping, at Don Pedro and Woodview. In his backpack he carried a large 5-inch blade kitchen knife, screw driver and gloves.

Lambert was charged with possession of an illegal weapon, possession of burglary tools, prowling and a parole violation.

DOPE FOUND: CERES - Police snared a man with dope in the 1900 block of Darrah Street on May 19.

Officers have been doing extra patrols after residents stated that outsiders are coming in to sell drugs. At 8:40 p.m. an officer spotted Alaric Sims, 25, of Modesto, sitting in his car. On parole, Sims was searched and found to be in possession of marijuana. He was also cited for violation of parole.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ALLEGED: CERES - Michael Costa, 26, of Modesto, turned himself into the Ceres Police Department after he became wanted for domestic violence.

At 6:30 p.m. on May 19 police were called out once again to a residence where a woman had suffered from an ongoing abusive relationship with Costa. Police had been to the home over a three-day period prior to the last call. The woman alleged that Costa kicked her with his cowboy boots on, and that another time he would not let her to leave a vehicle while threatening to harm her.

Costa was arrested on charges of assault with deadly weapon, making terrorist threats and false imprisonment.

Costa allegedly inflicted injuries on the woman in 2008, said Deputy Chief of Police Mike Borges.