• DUI CRASH ARREST MADE: CERES - Police say that a driver who was intoxicated crashed his car into an electrical pole on Service Road east of Morgan Road on Sunday, fled and then tried to get his son to report the crashed vehicle as having been stolen.
Jose Barragan, 44, was arrested for driving under the influence and hit and run in connection with the 1:10 p.m. crash of his black Nissan Versa into the pole. The vehicle rolled in the crash.
Lt. Brent Smith said Barragan was found by police walking down San Pedro Avenue with slight abrasions to his palms from falling while running from the scene. He had apparently called his son to ask him to report the vehicle as stolen as a way of covering the crime.
• QUALLS ARRESTED: CERES - Jason Qualls, deemed as a "runner" by Ceres police, was apprehended Saturday by police for various charges.
Qualls, 32, of Ceres, was arrested at 5:10 p.m. after police set up a perimeter at 2857 Charlotte Avenue after learning he was at the house. As predicted, Qualls bolted out of the back of the house, scaling over several fences in an attempt to get away. Two officers shot Qualls three times with bean bag guns with one .12-gauge round causing him to fall as he was going over a fence into the yard at 2916 Astor Court. Qualls fell face down, hitting an item after the shot but continued to run. Officer Brian Albonetti then tackled Qualls on the porch at 2920 Astor Court.
Qualls was arrested for obstructing and delaying a peace officer, and possession of methamphetamine and heroin. Further charges are expected. Qualls led police on a Saturday, Aug. 11 pursuit that ended in a hit and run into a parked car at the apartment complex at 1536 Nadine Avenue. He later was seen attempting to break into a house at 1360 Bluejay Way.
• BURGLARY SUSPECT TASERED: CERES - A residential burglary suspect was stopped in the commission of a crime Wednesday, Aug. 17 and had to be Tasered by officers to get him to resist in the arrest.
At 4:15 p.m. someone reported a residential burglary in progress at 3626 Ninth Street. Officer Trinidad Viramontes responded and saw Ignacio Anaya, 24, running with a bag of clothes and a pick axe. Anaya was commanded to stop and dropped the axe but failed to get on the ground so officers took him down by force, including use of a Taser gun.
He was arrested on charges of residential burglary, and resisting or delaying a peace officer.
• WOMAN REPORTED MISSING: CERES - Police are seeking the public's help in locating a 20-year-old Ceres woman who was reported missing since Aug. 16.
Audrey Hearn, 20, is a resident of Colony Park Mobilehome Estates at 3939 S. Central Avenue and is considered to be at risk due to disabilities. Police are concerned about her safety since she has not been texting from nor using her cell phone and they have exhausted checking out all leads.
Hearn is described as a white female, 5-foot-10, 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a tank top, shorts and a Bulls baseball cap.
Anyone who knows of her whereabouts is urged to call Ceres Police detectives at 538-5727.
• TEEN HIT BY CAR IN LIKELY GANG ATTACK: CERES - A 17-year-old boy sustained leg fractures after he was intentionally struck by a car on Saturday evening and then kicked as he lay on the ground in an apparent gang attack.
The assault with a deadly weapon incident occurred at 10:53 p.m. in the 700 block of Herndon Avenue. The teen was walking with a 16-year-old friend when a car described as possibly a black Honda was intentionally steered into their path. The car hit the older boy. The occupants of the car got out and kicked the victim on the ground.
He was rushed to Doctors Medical Center with a fractured leg and abrasions from the kicking.
Both teens were were reported runaways.
Information on the attack may be phoned into detectives at 538-5727.
• LIQUOR STORE ROBBED: CERES - A clerk at Richland Liquors at 1805 Richland Avenue was robbed at gunpoint Friday, Aug. 17 but a delayed call to police did nothing to help police apprehend the suspects.
Police were called at 8:43 p.m. by the clerk after he called family members after the robbery.
"It was really cold by the time we got there," said Lt. Brent Smith.
Two Latino men walked into the store brandishing weapons and stole cash from the cash register and grabbed a bottle of Tequila before leaving on foot. The robbers may have left the scene in "some sort of SUV," said Smith.
The men were described as being between the ages of 18 and 22, both standing 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, both with black hair and brown eyes and wearing baseball caps.
• DUI ARREST MADE FOLLOWING CRASH: CERES - Ernest Greenwood, 52, was arrested and charged with felony DUI after he drove recklessly and crashed two other vehicles on Hatch Road on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
At 11 a.m. someone called to report a reckless driver to the California Highway Patrol dispatch center. A Sheriff's deputy spotted a Mercury Mountaineer mini-van weaving in and out of traffic on Mitchell Road, then onto westbound Hatch Road. An officer began to pursue the driver when he crashed in the 3200 block of Hatch Road and rolled from the impact. The van struck a white Kia and a gray Nissan Altima.
Lt. Brent Smith reported that the woman in the Kia walked away from the crash after her arm was beginning to fly out of the window but contained by a side-impact air bag.
Greenwood was charged with felony drunken driving.
• JOINT PATROL CRACKDOWN: CERES - A multiple-agency traffic enforcement operation in Ceres on Thursday resulted in a number of cars being towed for illegal drivers.
Ceres Police Sgt. Chris Perry ran the daylong crackdown focusing on streets experiencing speeding problems.
Riverbank Police officers towed five cars and cited four drivers for driving on suspended licenses. They also issues two citations for mechanical violations and two tickets for persons using their cell phones while behind the wheel.
Oakdale officers issued six tickets for cell phone use and four speeding violation tickets.
Ceres police issued five speeding citations, four mechanical violation citations, two cell phone use tickets and had two cars towed for drivers on suspended licenses.
Jose Barragan, 44, was arrested for driving under the influence and hit and run in connection with the 1:10 p.m. crash of his black Nissan Versa into the pole. The vehicle rolled in the crash.
Lt. Brent Smith said Barragan was found by police walking down San Pedro Avenue with slight abrasions to his palms from falling while running from the scene. He had apparently called his son to ask him to report the vehicle as stolen as a way of covering the crime.
• QUALLS ARRESTED: CERES - Jason Qualls, deemed as a "runner" by Ceres police, was apprehended Saturday by police for various charges.
Qualls, 32, of Ceres, was arrested at 5:10 p.m. after police set up a perimeter at 2857 Charlotte Avenue after learning he was at the house. As predicted, Qualls bolted out of the back of the house, scaling over several fences in an attempt to get away. Two officers shot Qualls three times with bean bag guns with one .12-gauge round causing him to fall as he was going over a fence into the yard at 2916 Astor Court. Qualls fell face down, hitting an item after the shot but continued to run. Officer Brian Albonetti then tackled Qualls on the porch at 2920 Astor Court.
Qualls was arrested for obstructing and delaying a peace officer, and possession of methamphetamine and heroin. Further charges are expected. Qualls led police on a Saturday, Aug. 11 pursuit that ended in a hit and run into a parked car at the apartment complex at 1536 Nadine Avenue. He later was seen attempting to break into a house at 1360 Bluejay Way.
• BURGLARY SUSPECT TASERED: CERES - A residential burglary suspect was stopped in the commission of a crime Wednesday, Aug. 17 and had to be Tasered by officers to get him to resist in the arrest.
At 4:15 p.m. someone reported a residential burglary in progress at 3626 Ninth Street. Officer Trinidad Viramontes responded and saw Ignacio Anaya, 24, running with a bag of clothes and a pick axe. Anaya was commanded to stop and dropped the axe but failed to get on the ground so officers took him down by force, including use of a Taser gun.
He was arrested on charges of residential burglary, and resisting or delaying a peace officer.
• WOMAN REPORTED MISSING: CERES - Police are seeking the public's help in locating a 20-year-old Ceres woman who was reported missing since Aug. 16.
Audrey Hearn, 20, is a resident of Colony Park Mobilehome Estates at 3939 S. Central Avenue and is considered to be at risk due to disabilities. Police are concerned about her safety since she has not been texting from nor using her cell phone and they have exhausted checking out all leads.
Hearn is described as a white female, 5-foot-10, 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a tank top, shorts and a Bulls baseball cap.
Anyone who knows of her whereabouts is urged to call Ceres Police detectives at 538-5727.
• TEEN HIT BY CAR IN LIKELY GANG ATTACK: CERES - A 17-year-old boy sustained leg fractures after he was intentionally struck by a car on Saturday evening and then kicked as he lay on the ground in an apparent gang attack.
The assault with a deadly weapon incident occurred at 10:53 p.m. in the 700 block of Herndon Avenue. The teen was walking with a 16-year-old friend when a car described as possibly a black Honda was intentionally steered into their path. The car hit the older boy. The occupants of the car got out and kicked the victim on the ground.
He was rushed to Doctors Medical Center with a fractured leg and abrasions from the kicking.
Both teens were were reported runaways.
Information on the attack may be phoned into detectives at 538-5727.
• LIQUOR STORE ROBBED: CERES - A clerk at Richland Liquors at 1805 Richland Avenue was robbed at gunpoint Friday, Aug. 17 but a delayed call to police did nothing to help police apprehend the suspects.
Police were called at 8:43 p.m. by the clerk after he called family members after the robbery.
"It was really cold by the time we got there," said Lt. Brent Smith.
Two Latino men walked into the store brandishing weapons and stole cash from the cash register and grabbed a bottle of Tequila before leaving on foot. The robbers may have left the scene in "some sort of SUV," said Smith.
The men were described as being between the ages of 18 and 22, both standing 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, both with black hair and brown eyes and wearing baseball caps.
• DUI ARREST MADE FOLLOWING CRASH: CERES - Ernest Greenwood, 52, was arrested and charged with felony DUI after he drove recklessly and crashed two other vehicles on Hatch Road on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
At 11 a.m. someone called to report a reckless driver to the California Highway Patrol dispatch center. A Sheriff's deputy spotted a Mercury Mountaineer mini-van weaving in and out of traffic on Mitchell Road, then onto westbound Hatch Road. An officer began to pursue the driver when he crashed in the 3200 block of Hatch Road and rolled from the impact. The van struck a white Kia and a gray Nissan Altima.
Lt. Brent Smith reported that the woman in the Kia walked away from the crash after her arm was beginning to fly out of the window but contained by a side-impact air bag.
Greenwood was charged with felony drunken driving.
• JOINT PATROL CRACKDOWN: CERES - A multiple-agency traffic enforcement operation in Ceres on Thursday resulted in a number of cars being towed for illegal drivers.
Ceres Police Sgt. Chris Perry ran the daylong crackdown focusing on streets experiencing speeding problems.
Riverbank Police officers towed five cars and cited four drivers for driving on suspended licenses. They also issues two citations for mechanical violations and two tickets for persons using their cell phones while behind the wheel.
Oakdale officers issued six tickets for cell phone use and four speeding violation tickets.
Ceres police issued five speeding citations, four mechanical violation citations, two cell phone use tickets and had two cars towed for drivers on suspended licenses.
