STREET RACING ENDS IN CRASH: CERES - Police say that an illegal street race on Faith Home Road resulted in a crash on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Borges said that Michael Lee, 18, of Ceres, lost control of his car as he was racing a second car on northbound Faith Home Road. Lee lost control and skid sideways as he collided with a concrete TID barrier at the canal at Hatch Road.
The crash occurred at 12:34 a.m.
Officers have not determined who was driving the second car. Officers have submitted the case to the District Attorney's office for review on charges.
Borges said that Lee was not seriously injured but complained about pain. "He was lucky," said Borges.
LASER POINTER GETS TEEN ARRESTED: CERES - A Ceres area teen-ager was arrested Friday evening for allegedly pointing a laser pointer at a hovering Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department helicopter.
The Sheriff's Department said that Benjamin Obando Jr., 18, was charged with the felony of aiming a laser at an occupied aircraft. He was jailed on a $25,000 bail.
Authorities were able to track the laser user to the 700 block of Musick Avenue at the northern boundary of Ceres. Deputies on the ground fund Obando and his green-colored laser.
At approximately 11:50 p.m. the helicopter was deployed to the area in response to a call of a suspicious vehicle in the area.
Deputy Royjinder Singh noted that pointing a laser at aircraft is dangerous because it can light up the windshield and blind the pilot.
ARRESTED IN FOOD THEFT: CERES - Two persons were arrested Friday morning after they allegedly stole food items from Cost Less Foods on Hatch Road.
Officers arrived at the store at 10:10 a.m. after store personnel said they saw two men leave as they were concealing something in their clothing. A vehicle description was given and officers found and detained the car near the 7-Eleven on Herndon Road. Transient Hector Aguilar, 19, was booked for burglary but his friend, Ciro Bahena, 22, of Kerman, received more charges besides the burglary. Bahena was charged with being a parolee at large, possession of a concealed dagger, providing a false name to officers, and resisting arrest.
ARRESTS MADE AT ROWDY PARTY: CERES - Five persons were arrested as the result of a loud party call on Cabrera Court made at 12:38 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16. Callers said they heard shots fired at the party.
Police broke up the party and chased after one car leaving the house. They arrested passenger Hugo Rodriguez, 23, of Modesto, for public intoxication and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia.
Officers attempted to get the homeowner to come outside to talk but Jose Guttierrez, 28, of Ceres, only kept coming in and out of the door, refusing to talk to officers. Only until officers began citing cars outside the house for illegal parking did Guttierrez appear. He was arrested for resisting and delaying an officer.
Deputy Chief Borges said that as Guttierrez was being arrested, about 14 revelers cleared out.
Others arrested were:
• Victor Robledo, 21, of Waterford, for possession of illegal weapons;
• Gonzalo Lopez, 28, of Stockton, for being drunk in public, providing false information to a police officer, and being a parolee at large;
• Enrique Gomez, 25, of Visalia, who returned to the scene to rummage through a neighboring backyard in search for something. He was arrested as a parolee in possession of ammunition in his pocket.
Borges said the party appeared to be gang related. Investigators have not seen anything hit.
DRUG HOUSE SHUT DOWN: CERES - A Sunday single probation search allowed the Street Crimes Unit to shut down an alleged methamphetamine making operation in the 1900 block of Evans Road.
The unit made a surprise probation search at 3 p.m. and found chemicals and other equipment believed to be used for the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Parolee Douglas Bagley, 38, of Ceres, was arrested for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession or sales within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of substance to manufacture methamphetamine, and keeping a place for the sale of controlled substances.
Others arrested were:
• Andrea Russo, 34, of Ceres, for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of materials to manufacture methamphetamine, and visiting a place where controlled substances are used;
• Teodore Nazar, 38, of Modesto, for visiting a place where controlled substances are used, and possession of controlled substance;
• Veronica Esperaza, 30, of Modesto, for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of materials to manufacture methamphetamine, visiting a place where controlled substances are used, and possession of a controlled substance.
• Daniel Carter, 37, of Manteca, for being under the influence of a controlled substance and visiting a place where controlled substances are used.
"It was a good arrest by the SEU," said Borges. "They are the main driving force in proactively looking at gangs and drugs. By freeing up regular duty officers, the unit can be actively engaged in finding this stuff."
The Stanislaus County Drug Enforcement Agency disposed of chemicals found in the house.
DRIVER NEARLY SHOT BY POLICE: CERES - An inebriated driver was close to being shot by a Ceres officer early Monday morning as the man gunned his engine toward two patrol cars parked in the street during a traffic stop.
At 12:27 a.m. officers Coey Henson and Sgt. Trenton Johnson stopped a vehicle in the 3800 block of Mitchell Road on the suspicion that the vehicle had been involved in a prior shooting. The occupants of the car were later cleared.
Johnson's patrol car was parked in the far right lane of northbound Mitchell Road and he was standing next to an open door. At that moment Johnson heard a vehicle with loud exhaust roar with acceleration and was aiming toward both patrol cars. At the last moment, the vehicle swerved, barely missing Sgt. Johnson and his open car door. For a split-second, Johnson considered using deadly force to stop the driver but feared that killing the driver would send the vehicle out of control into the officers and he refrained.
The driver, Justin Mattila, 33, of Ceres, sped off northbound with officers chasing him. Mattila lost control and crashed his vehicle into fire hydrant and street sign at Mitchell and Whitmore near Carl's Jr. Mattila was unable to back up the car and tried to run away on foot. He was tackled by Officer Dan Fairchild and Sgt. Johnson in the drive-thru lane of Del Taco. Mattila was determined to be extremely intoxicated.
He told officers that all he wanted to do was show off his loud pipes.
Mattila was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, leading officers on a pursuit, resisting arrest, hit-and-run and DUI.
"We could have easily had an officer killed or injured," said Deputy Chief Borges.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Borges said that Michael Lee, 18, of Ceres, lost control of his car as he was racing a second car on northbound Faith Home Road. Lee lost control and skid sideways as he collided with a concrete TID barrier at the canal at Hatch Road.
The crash occurred at 12:34 a.m.
Officers have not determined who was driving the second car. Officers have submitted the case to the District Attorney's office for review on charges.
Borges said that Lee was not seriously injured but complained about pain. "He was lucky," said Borges.
LASER POINTER GETS TEEN ARRESTED: CERES - A Ceres area teen-ager was arrested Friday evening for allegedly pointing a laser pointer at a hovering Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department helicopter.
The Sheriff's Department said that Benjamin Obando Jr., 18, was charged with the felony of aiming a laser at an occupied aircraft. He was jailed on a $25,000 bail.
Authorities were able to track the laser user to the 700 block of Musick Avenue at the northern boundary of Ceres. Deputies on the ground fund Obando and his green-colored laser.
At approximately 11:50 p.m. the helicopter was deployed to the area in response to a call of a suspicious vehicle in the area.
Deputy Royjinder Singh noted that pointing a laser at aircraft is dangerous because it can light up the windshield and blind the pilot.
ARRESTED IN FOOD THEFT: CERES - Two persons were arrested Friday morning after they allegedly stole food items from Cost Less Foods on Hatch Road.
Officers arrived at the store at 10:10 a.m. after store personnel said they saw two men leave as they were concealing something in their clothing. A vehicle description was given and officers found and detained the car near the 7-Eleven on Herndon Road. Transient Hector Aguilar, 19, was booked for burglary but his friend, Ciro Bahena, 22, of Kerman, received more charges besides the burglary. Bahena was charged with being a parolee at large, possession of a concealed dagger, providing a false name to officers, and resisting arrest.
ARRESTS MADE AT ROWDY PARTY: CERES - Five persons were arrested as the result of a loud party call on Cabrera Court made at 12:38 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16. Callers said they heard shots fired at the party.
Police broke up the party and chased after one car leaving the house. They arrested passenger Hugo Rodriguez, 23, of Modesto, for public intoxication and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia.
Officers attempted to get the homeowner to come outside to talk but Jose Guttierrez, 28, of Ceres, only kept coming in and out of the door, refusing to talk to officers. Only until officers began citing cars outside the house for illegal parking did Guttierrez appear. He was arrested for resisting and delaying an officer.
Deputy Chief Borges said that as Guttierrez was being arrested, about 14 revelers cleared out.
Others arrested were:
• Victor Robledo, 21, of Waterford, for possession of illegal weapons;
• Gonzalo Lopez, 28, of Stockton, for being drunk in public, providing false information to a police officer, and being a parolee at large;
• Enrique Gomez, 25, of Visalia, who returned to the scene to rummage through a neighboring backyard in search for something. He was arrested as a parolee in possession of ammunition in his pocket.
Borges said the party appeared to be gang related. Investigators have not seen anything hit.
DRUG HOUSE SHUT DOWN: CERES - A Sunday single probation search allowed the Street Crimes Unit to shut down an alleged methamphetamine making operation in the 1900 block of Evans Road.
The unit made a surprise probation search at 3 p.m. and found chemicals and other equipment believed to be used for the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Parolee Douglas Bagley, 38, of Ceres, was arrested for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession or sales within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of substance to manufacture methamphetamine, and keeping a place for the sale of controlled substances.
Others arrested were:
• Andrea Russo, 34, of Ceres, for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of materials to manufacture methamphetamine, and visiting a place where controlled substances are used;
• Teodore Nazar, 38, of Modesto, for visiting a place where controlled substances are used, and possession of controlled substance;
• Veronica Esperaza, 30, of Modesto, for manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of materials to manufacture methamphetamine, visiting a place where controlled substances are used, and possession of a controlled substance.
• Daniel Carter, 37, of Manteca, for being under the influence of a controlled substance and visiting a place where controlled substances are used.
"It was a good arrest by the SEU," said Borges. "They are the main driving force in proactively looking at gangs and drugs. By freeing up regular duty officers, the unit can be actively engaged in finding this stuff."
The Stanislaus County Drug Enforcement Agency disposed of chemicals found in the house.
DRIVER NEARLY SHOT BY POLICE: CERES - An inebriated driver was close to being shot by a Ceres officer early Monday morning as the man gunned his engine toward two patrol cars parked in the street during a traffic stop.
At 12:27 a.m. officers Coey Henson and Sgt. Trenton Johnson stopped a vehicle in the 3800 block of Mitchell Road on the suspicion that the vehicle had been involved in a prior shooting. The occupants of the car were later cleared.
Johnson's patrol car was parked in the far right lane of northbound Mitchell Road and he was standing next to an open door. At that moment Johnson heard a vehicle with loud exhaust roar with acceleration and was aiming toward both patrol cars. At the last moment, the vehicle swerved, barely missing Sgt. Johnson and his open car door. For a split-second, Johnson considered using deadly force to stop the driver but feared that killing the driver would send the vehicle out of control into the officers and he refrained.
The driver, Justin Mattila, 33, of Ceres, sped off northbound with officers chasing him. Mattila lost control and crashed his vehicle into fire hydrant and street sign at Mitchell and Whitmore near Carl's Jr. Mattila was unable to back up the car and tried to run away on foot. He was tackled by Officer Dan Fairchild and Sgt. Johnson in the drive-thru lane of Del Taco. Mattila was determined to be extremely intoxicated.
He told officers that all he wanted to do was show off his loud pipes.
Mattila was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, leading officers on a pursuit, resisting arrest, hit-and-run and DUI.
"We could have easily had an officer killed or injured," said Deputy Chief Borges.
