Four local men all in their twenties were arrested by Ceres Police after shots were fired from the Mercedes they were riding in down Hatch Road early Saturday.

Arrested and booked were Vincent Contreras, 26, George Keene, 27, and Cesar Valencia, 21, all of Ceres, and Richard Bargas, 27, of Modesto.

Officer Jacob Valenzuela was patrolling the area of Hatch and Herndon roads at 1:58 a.m. when he saw a muzzle flash and gunshots coming from a black-colored Mercedes E300 traveling eastbound on Hatch Road. He caught up to the vehicle in the area of Manny and Darby lanes and conducted a vehicle stop and removed all four men from the car. 

A search turned up an assault rifle, live rounds of ammunition and extended magazines.

During the booking process, Bargas was found to have a bag of cocaine hidden on his person. He was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of willful discharge of a firearm, possession of an assault weapon, smuggling a controlled substance into the jail and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm. 

Contreras was booked on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a felon in possession of live ammunition, willful discharge of a firearm, possession of an assault weapon and carrying a loaded firearm with a prior felony conviction. 

Keene and Valencia were both booked on charges of for willful discharge of a firearm and possession of an assault weapon.