A 33-year-old Turlock man driving a stolen pickup was arrested in a Ceres traffic stop early Thursday evening. When Frank Martinez, 33, of Turlock was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center he was found with a white crystalline substance suspected of being methamphetamine. That discovery netted him additional charges of possession of a controlled substance and bringing drugs into the jail facility.

Martinez’s arrest came at 12:20 a.m., when Officer Charles Lord-Huff was patrolling the area of Whitmore Avenue near the northbound Highway 99 onramp and spotted a grey-colored Ford F-150 that he believed to be stolen. Once the vehicle was confirmed to be stolen and when additional units arrived to assist, Officer Lord-Huff conducted a high-risk stop on Martinez in front of Popeye’s at 1400 Hatch Road. 

Martinez was arrested and booked for auto theft and possession of a stolen vehicle. He also had a felony warrant for auto theft and was on probation for several charges to include auto theft.