• BABY STOPS BREATHING IN MOM'S BED: CERES - Police are investigating the death of a three-month-old who may have suffocated while sleeping in the same bed as the mother and five-year-old brother.
Police Lt. Brent Smith said the baby's mother woke up Friday morning in the 3000 block of Tenth Street to find the child not breathing. She carried the infant to the next-door neighbor where a 9-1-1 call was placed at 7:44 a.m. Ceres officers arrived first and began CPR and despite the quick arrival of paramedics the baby was declared dead at a Modesto hospital.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns parents not to place their infants to sleep in adult beds, stating that the practice puts babies at risk of suffocation and strangulation. According to the CPSC, at least 515 deaths were linked to infants and toddlers under 2 years of age sleeping in adult beds from January 1990 to December 1997.
• MANCINI PARK SHOOTING WOUNDS MAN: SOUTH MODESTO - A man sustained a gunshot wound to the leg Wednesday afternoon near Mancini Park, a city of Modesto owned park in the unincorporated area of south Modesto on River Road.
The shooting took place in the 1200 block of Symphony Way at approximately 4:10 p.m.
Sheriff's deputies and Modesto police had information on a vehicle possibly linked to the shooting.
• STOLEN CAR CRASHED INTO TREE: CERES - Police found a stolen white Toyota Camry crashed into tree at Crystal Falls Court and Rocky Brook Drive early Friday morning with the driver long gone.
The vehicle had been stolen from a Stone Springs Drive home -- without the owner's knowledge -- prior to the 3:46 a.m. crash, said Ceres Police Lt. Brent Smith.
The damaged vehicle was towed and stored.
• FOUR STOLEN CARS SAME MORNING: CERES - Police took four reports of stolen vehicles on Thursday morning, March 21. All the vehicles were stolen either late at night or early in the morning.
A 1999 Honda passenger car was stolen from a home in the 1500 block of Marrazzi Lane.
A 1997 Honda was taken in the 700 block of Winding Brook Court.
A Chevy pickup was removed from the 3400 block of Heather Lane.
In the 2000 block of Poplar Lane, a 1994 Nissan Altima was stolen.
• HOME BURGLARIZED: CERES - Reports of a Friday morning residential burglary in the 1200 block of River Rock Court came too late for police to catch the perpetrators.
Police were called at 10:30 a.m., apparently as the crime was being wrapped up. Neighbors reported that two young white males in a grey-colored extended cab Chevy pickup may be linked to the break-in.
Police confirmed that forced entry had been made at the home but were unsure what was taken from the house. The crime is still being investigated.
• WEAPON BRANDISHED OUTSIDE EATERY: CERES - An employee of the IHOP restaurant on Hatch Road called 9-1-1 Sunday morning after seeing four intoxicated men in the parking lot with one brandishing a firearm.
Police responded quickly to the 4:05 a.m. call but found the men had left in a black Mercedes E550 which was not located.
• DRIVE-BY SHOOTING REPORTED: CERES - Police investigated a Thursday evening report of four shots being fired from a passing car in the 2100 block of Fifth Street but found little to go on.
A caller dialed 9-1-1 at 10:44 p.m. to report hearing four shots from a small caliber handgun and that a car sped away. Sgt. Dennis Perry was in the area and approached by someone saying they knew the gun was fired into the air. A search of the area produced no evidence of shots nor was any building reported hit.
• BUSINESSES ROBBED IN SMASH & GRAB: CERES - Four Ceres businesses lost property during four "window smash" burglaries that took place in a short period of time on early Sunday morning.
An alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. at Exotic Pets in the Richland Shopping Center after someone smashed the glass window. Thieves walked in and took the cash register.
Computers were stolen from the offices of the California Canned Peach Association headquarters at 1704 Herndon Road.
At 5:20 a.m. the Radio Shack store on Hatch Road was broke into with breakage of the glass to gain entry. Nothing was taken, said Lt. Brent Smith.
At 5:50 a.m. an alarm went off at the AT&T store at 1788 Mitchell Road where cash registers and display items were stolen.
"This was obviously a crew just going from place to place," said Lt. Smith. "We are still investigating this to find something to go on."
