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Teen charged with child endangerment
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A Ceres man was arrested and charged Feb. 3 with child endangerment after allegedly supplying a large quantity of brandy and beer to a 15-year-old girl who is also pregnant.

The arrest came during an 8:21 p.m. patrol of an alley east of Myrtlewood Drive between Acorn Lane and Myrtlewood when an officer spotted Michael Black, 19, of Ceres, jumping over a fence and into someone else's backyard. The homeowners escorted Black out of the yard as the officer came up. The underage girl began to vomit uncontrollably and was crying in pain. Police called an ambulance and she was transported to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. Attempts to locate her parents were unsuccessful.

Black was booked on charges of child endangerment and public drunkenness.

Police also worked these other cases:

• MARIJUANA FOUND IN CAR
A 20-year-old Patterson driver will answer charges in court as to why he was transporting 245 grams of marijuana in his car when he was stopped in Ceres on Friday.

Officer Steve Carvalho stopped Joseph Verdugo, 20, of Patterson, for a burned out headlight at Whitmore Avenue and Third Street. During the 9:12 p.m. traffic stop Officer Carvalho learned that Verdugo had a $100,000 arrest warrant issued by Modesto Police Department. A search of the car turned up the large quantity of marijuana, which led to a charge of transportation of marijuana for sale.


• TEEN CRASHES CAR INTO TREE - A 16-year-old Modesto boy is in trouble after crashing a 1998 Ford Escort into a tree at Twilight Drive and Wishing Way and then fleeing the scene.

The hit and run crash occurred at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Police said the driver walked away uninjured. He was arrested for driving without a license, and hit and run.

The driver's name could not be released because he is a minor.

• TEXTING CAUSE OF CRASH? - Ceres police theorize that a driver was distracted with texting when he caused a crash at Whitmore Avenue and Morgan Road on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

A black Honda Civic was being driven westbound on Whitmore Avenue at 4:58 a.m. The driver did not see that the car in front was stopping for a red light and had to make a hard swerve to the right to avoid a collision. The Honda hit a diagonal guy wire for a utility pole, causing the vehicle to flip. The driver avoided serious injuries but had complaints of pain.

The crash caused the intersection signal light to hang low, which caused another collision, said Ceres Police Lt. Brent Smith.

• PURSUIT ENDS IN ARREST - Burned out tail lights on a car led police to attempt a Feb. 4 traffic stop that turned into a short pursuit.

At 6 a.m. Ceres Police Officer Brian Peterson tried to stop a car travelling westbound on Magnolia Street with no working tail lights. The driver didn't pull over but accelerated to Central Avenue and then onto southbound Highway 99.

Tony Macias, 20, of Waterford, exited the freeway at Mitchell Road where officers pulled him out during a "high risk" traffic stop.

Macias told police that the 1.3-mile chase was due to him having to get to work and he didn't want police towing his vehicle.

Macias is being charged with leading police on a pursuit, driving on a suspended license and driving with no tail lights.