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CRIME DIGEST
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• DRUGS SMOKED IN FRONT OF KIDS: CERES - Four adults were arrested on charges of smoking methamphetamine in front of young children on Monday, April 30.

A tip led police officers James Riley and Lorenzo Beltran to conduct a parole search at 2515 Ninth Street at 10:22 p.m. The officers knocked on the door and it was opened to reveal adults smoking meth in full view.

"The room was of smoke and five small children aged 1-8 were in the house," said Lt. Brent Smith of the Ceres Police Department.

Ceres police detectives were called out as well as Child Protective Services. The children were placed in foster care.

Arrested on child endangerment and being under the influence charges were Lynn Thayer, 38, and Jessica Thayer, 37, both of Modesto, and Nicole Copfer, 26, and Joe Villa, 40, both of Ceres. Lynn Thayer and Villa also are being charged with parole violations.

• DRUNK DRIVING SUSPECT HITS HYDRANT: CERES - A Ceres man is accused of running into a fire hydrant, fleeing the scene and then crashing into a wall near a north Ceres elementary school on Friday.

The first crash occurred at 3:48 p.m. in the 1000 block of Munchkin Drive when a car careened out of control and hit the hydrant, causing water to spray into the air. The driver continued, however, witnesses followed him while staying on the phone to 911 dispatchers. The driver, Vicente Carvajal, 49, of Ceres, crashed into a fence near Adkison Elementary School. The campus was placed on a 10-minute lockdown as Carvajal refused commands to get out. Carvajal had a pitbull inside his car but officers managed to forcibly pull him out.

Carvajal sustained a cut lip caused when his air bag deployed. He told officers that he didn't do anything wrong, said Lt. Brent Smith.

After a trip to a Modesto for a blood draw to check his alcohol level, Carvajal was booked on suspicion of drunk driving, hit and run, and driving on a suspended license.

• MAN ASSAULTED DEFENDING PROPERTY: CERES - Three Latino men scattered from the 3200 block of St. Gotthard Way after they clubbed a man in the head with a 2x4 piece of wood as he came out to see why they were standing near his truck early Friday morning.

The assault took place at approximately 3 a.m.

The 48-year-old resident heard voices coming from his driveway and saw three Latino males standing by his truck. When he went out to see what they were doing he was clobbered in the head.

The men climbed into a tan-colored Ford Bronco and fled the scene.

• WALMART THEFT ENDS IN ARREST: CERES - A man attempted to cart away $300 in goods from the Ceres Walmart after he didn't pay for them on Sunday evening.

Store personnel called police at 6:15 p.m. after Matthew Alicia, 22, of Modesto, wheeled the cart of goods out of the garden area exit. The suspect was spotted by officers and took off running toward Alfonse Drive. Police did a yard to yard search in the residential area west of Walmart and spotted the suspect jumping fences and eventually walking on the roof at 2956 Alfonse Drive. After contacting Alicia, police threatened to release the police canine on the roof and he gave up.

Alicia was arrested for petty theft and resisting arrest. He had two warrants issued for drug charges as well as a warrant for bailing on the county's Alternative Work Program.

• MARIJUANA GROW DISCOVERED: CERES - The Ceres Police Street Crimes Unit (SCU) is attempting to develop leads on the person responsible for a sophisticated indoor marijuana growing operation which was discovered during a search warrant execution in the 1000 block of Edith Court on Wednesday, April 25 at 7:50 p.m.

Police seized 176 marijuana plants.

• PARTIALLY NUDE MAN ARRESTED IN PORCH PREACHING: CERES - An underwear clad Hughson man who was sitting on the porch of a stranger's house in the 2600 block of El Dorado Drive and holding a Bible, was checked for physical and mental evaluation Thursday morning.

The 33-year-old man likely walked through the night to Ceres from Hughson, said Lt. Brent Smith.

The man was reported at 6:13 a.m. and appeared to be very cold. The man told Officer Jason Coley that he needed to be saved.

Authorities transported the man to the hospital for evaluation.

• BURGLARY SUSPECTS CAPTURED: CERES - Three burglary suspects were arrested Thursday morning after they attempted to flee from officers.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. when officers checked out an area of Richland Avenue where a burglary was reported. When officers tried to stop a suspicious looking van, the driver let it roll as they attempted to bail. The van crashed into a car occupied by two federal immigration enforcement agents who were in Ceres on an investigation. The driver, Richard Palomares, 18, of Ceres, was immediately apprehended while his two passengers fled on foot. Palomares was charged with hit-and-run, obstructing or delaying a peace officer, possession of stolen property and first-degree burglary.

Two juveniles with Palomares were apprehended, one after he was hit with a Taser. They were both booked at Juvenile Hall on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property.

As officers were making the arrests, a burglary call came in from an apartment at 1757 Richland Avenue. The resident reported the theft of a flat screen TV and jewelry. The burglarized goods were found in the van.

• STOLEN CAR RECOVERED WITH SUSPECTS: CERES - Police recovered a stolen car occupied by three auto theft suspects on Thursday afternoon.

A stolen 1995 Honda Accord was spotted at 3:04 p.m. by a member of the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force as it was being driven southbound on Mitchell Road at Whitmore Avenue. Ceres officers were radioed for assistance. The stolen car was followed on southbound Mitchell Road and onto northbound Highway 99. The chase exited the freeway at Hatch Road. The vehicle pulled into the McDonald's parking lot with the arrests of three males. Apprehended were Salvador Esparza, 18, of Modesto, a 15-year-old Modesto boy and a 17-year-old Modesto teen. All three were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of burglary tools, and possession of stolen property.