• YOUTH LEAD POLICE ON CHASE: CERES - Five teenage boys were arrested after they were chased in a Friday evening high-speed pursuit up Highway to San Joaquin County and back to Modesto.
Officer Brittany England was on patrol at 8:44 p.m. Dec. 16 when she spotted a 1993 Honda Accord blow through a stop sign at Helen Perry and Boothe roads. When she attempted to pull the driver over, the car accelerated. The chase went onto northbound Highway 99 to the Jack Tone Road exit in the Ripon area and eventually back onto the freeway headed southbound. The driver exited at the Tuolumne Boulevard exit in Modesto where he lost control and crashed into a tree. The driver fled on foot but his four passenger, two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, all of Modesto, were arrested. They were booked into Juvenile Hall on charges of possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.
Police learned that the car had been stolen.
The next evening police worked leads and found the driver at his residence in the 600 block of Seventh Street in Modesto. He was found hiding in a shed in back of the residence. He was charged with hit and run, driving without a license, leading police on pursuit, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.
Police could not release the juveniles' names because of a state law protecting the identities of minors.
• ASSAULT AGAINST BROTHER ALLEGED: CERES - Arunesh Lal, 33, of Modesto, was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his Ceres brother, police reported.
Police received 911 calls from the 1600 block of Cancimilla Court at 8:15 p.m. The Ceres man said his brother was threatening him with a machete and broke out the windshield of his vehicle. Lal also allegedly threatened his brother's wife with a knife and tried to hit his brother with a car.
Officer Coey Henson later found Lal walking up to his parents' house on Walpole in Modesto. When he spotted the officer, Lal ran into the house and shut the door. Police made forced entry and arrested Lal for assault with a deadly weapon and making terroristic threats.
• VEHICLE BURGLARIES PROMPT RESPONSE: CERES - Several citizens got involved to help police apprehend four suspects who were breaking into or attempting to break into vehicles in Hatch Road's commercial district on Saturday afternoon.
Several persons made 9-1-1 calls at 1 p.m. to report vehicle burglaries in progress in the Kmart parking lot. One citizen followed two suspects when they left in a 1990s model Toyota Camry station wagon. The suspects - the 16-year-old driver from Turlock and his 16-year-old passenger - were stopped by red light traffic on southbound Richland Avenue at Hatch Road. Sgt. Danny Vierra caught up with the suspects' vehicle and confronted the suspects in the street. His efforts were aided when a driver in front of the suspects refused to move when the light turned green. Sgt. Vierra came up to the passenger side of the car where the window was open slightly and broke the window out and removed the passenger. He removed the driver at gunpoint and "detained both of them thanks to the help of our unknown citizen," said Lt. Brent Smith.
The two teenagers were interrogated and revealed that they had just abandoned a stolen burgundy Honda Accord in the parking lot next to Wienerschnitzel. They also had attempted to steal a red Honda in the Walmart parking lot where they left two other suspects. In the Walmart lot, police located Cassandra Matson, 20, of Modesto, with a sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun concealed inside a large Christmas stocking. She was accompanied by a minor. She was arrested and charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun, two counts possession of a stolen car, contributing to the delinquency of minor, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
All three boys were charged with possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, and auto theft.
• VEHICLES VANDALIZED: CERES - Two vehicles belonging to employees of a Ceres trucking company were vandalized on Sunday.
The tires on a 1995 Oldsmobile were punctured and flattened while a 1999 Ford pickup sustained interior damage when someone broke into it, spread a flammable liquid on the rear seat and set it on fire. The fire damage was limited and failed to ignore the entire truck.
The damages were discovered at 10 a.m. Sunday at Tamara Trucking in the 1100 block of Service Road.
Police have no information on the suspect or suspects who broke into the trucking yard.
Officer Brittany England was on patrol at 8:44 p.m. Dec. 16 when she spotted a 1993 Honda Accord blow through a stop sign at Helen Perry and Boothe roads. When she attempted to pull the driver over, the car accelerated. The chase went onto northbound Highway 99 to the Jack Tone Road exit in the Ripon area and eventually back onto the freeway headed southbound. The driver exited at the Tuolumne Boulevard exit in Modesto where he lost control and crashed into a tree. The driver fled on foot but his four passenger, two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, all of Modesto, were arrested. They were booked into Juvenile Hall on charges of possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.
Police learned that the car had been stolen.
The next evening police worked leads and found the driver at his residence in the 600 block of Seventh Street in Modesto. He was found hiding in a shed in back of the residence. He was charged with hit and run, driving without a license, leading police on pursuit, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.
Police could not release the juveniles' names because of a state law protecting the identities of minors.
• ASSAULT AGAINST BROTHER ALLEGED: CERES - Arunesh Lal, 33, of Modesto, was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his Ceres brother, police reported.
Police received 911 calls from the 1600 block of Cancimilla Court at 8:15 p.m. The Ceres man said his brother was threatening him with a machete and broke out the windshield of his vehicle. Lal also allegedly threatened his brother's wife with a knife and tried to hit his brother with a car.
Officer Coey Henson later found Lal walking up to his parents' house on Walpole in Modesto. When he spotted the officer, Lal ran into the house and shut the door. Police made forced entry and arrested Lal for assault with a deadly weapon and making terroristic threats.
• VEHICLE BURGLARIES PROMPT RESPONSE: CERES - Several citizens got involved to help police apprehend four suspects who were breaking into or attempting to break into vehicles in Hatch Road's commercial district on Saturday afternoon.
Several persons made 9-1-1 calls at 1 p.m. to report vehicle burglaries in progress in the Kmart parking lot. One citizen followed two suspects when they left in a 1990s model Toyota Camry station wagon. The suspects - the 16-year-old driver from Turlock and his 16-year-old passenger - were stopped by red light traffic on southbound Richland Avenue at Hatch Road. Sgt. Danny Vierra caught up with the suspects' vehicle and confronted the suspects in the street. His efforts were aided when a driver in front of the suspects refused to move when the light turned green. Sgt. Vierra came up to the passenger side of the car where the window was open slightly and broke the window out and removed the passenger. He removed the driver at gunpoint and "detained both of them thanks to the help of our unknown citizen," said Lt. Brent Smith.
The two teenagers were interrogated and revealed that they had just abandoned a stolen burgundy Honda Accord in the parking lot next to Wienerschnitzel. They also had attempted to steal a red Honda in the Walmart parking lot where they left two other suspects. In the Walmart lot, police located Cassandra Matson, 20, of Modesto, with a sawed-off .12-gauge shotgun concealed inside a large Christmas stocking. She was accompanied by a minor. She was arrested and charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun, two counts possession of a stolen car, contributing to the delinquency of minor, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
All three boys were charged with possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, and auto theft.
• VEHICLES VANDALIZED: CERES - Two vehicles belonging to employees of a Ceres trucking company were vandalized on Sunday.
The tires on a 1995 Oldsmobile were punctured and flattened while a 1999 Ford pickup sustained interior damage when someone broke into it, spread a flammable liquid on the rear seat and set it on fire. The fire damage was limited and failed to ignore the entire truck.
The damages were discovered at 10 a.m. Sunday at Tamara Trucking in the 1100 block of Service Road.
Police have no information on the suspect or suspects who broke into the trucking yard.
