Two young men were arrested on various charged Sunday evening after their car was stopped for speeding and reports came about shots being fired from it.
At 5:53 p.m., Officer Adam Hall saw a Honda speeding westbound on Whitmore Avenue west of Mitchell Road. Hall clocked the car with radar doing 80 mph in a 35 mph speed limit zone.
Officer Hall stopped the car on Whitmore Avenue at Moffett Road. At the same time he was alerted by dispatchers that the Honda was being sought by the California Highway Patrol on reports that its occupants had fired a gun out the window while traveling in the area of Whitmore Avenue and Lockwood Road.
Officer Hall and Officer Jessica Graham detained driver Gustavo Fuentes, 30, of Ceres and passenger Esteban Yepez, 28, of Ceres.
As the two men were removed from the car, spent 9mm shell casings fell onto the roadway. More spent shell casings were located on the floorboard.
A 9mm handgun was found concealed in the storage pocket in the back of the front passenger seat. A CHP officer said a witness following the Honda saw the gun come out of the passenger window, saw gun smoke and heard the shots fired into an orchard on Whitmore Avenue near Lockwood Road however could not tell if it was the driver or passenger shooting. The witness called 911 and followed the Honda until Officer Hall pulled it over.
Gustavo was the registered owner of the gun and admitted shooting it from his vehicle into the orchard. Yepez was intoxicated, uncooperative and claimed he didn’t see anything.
Gustavo faces charges of negligent discharge of a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
Yepez was booked for public intoxication.