The owner of a stolen red-colored Hyundai Santa Fe got his car back and the man who allegedly stole it went to jail thanks to an alert Ceres Police officer on Monday evening.

At 9:39 p.m., Officer Aaron Pinon heard a broadcast to lookout for the stolen car as it had been seen near Crowslanding and Hatch roads. He spotted the stolen vehicle at a business in the 1500 block of Hatch Road. After watching a man and woman remove items from it, Officer Pinon detained both. Victor Yepez, 33, of Modesto, gave a false name.

Pinon learned that Yepez took the car after finding it with the keys in the ignition. Yepez was found to have two outstanding arrest warrants and was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, providing a false identity to a peace officer, and the two outstanding warrants.