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Fireworks violators in overwhelm enforcers
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Despite warnings of stricter enforcement, a number of Ceres revelers just did not get the message over the Fourth of July weekend.

"We probably contacted and cited10 people for illegal fireworks and we still didn't get them all," said Mike Borges, deputy chief of police.

Borges said that in some cases illegal fireworks were seized from those caught with them.

Some escaped citations because police couldn't prove who was setting them off.

"We received numerous calls from neighbors but pinpointing exactly where they came from, not exactly."

Borges said he personally cited a 17-year-old teen girl who was caught setting off Roman candles in a driveway. The Bay Area girl said she was visiting relatives for the Fourth.

"Her father was very cooperative but another member of her family ... was a little upset," said Borges. "They claimed that they bought them from a fireworks booths."

The illegal fireworks accompanied a commercially packaged box but Borges doubted the story.

"I tend not to believe it but I cannot disprove it," he said.

It is illegal for safe and sane fireworks vendors in California to sell anything that explodes or leaves the ground. But many western states permit the sale of bottle rockets and firecrackers, of which both popped up in Ceres.

Borges said that he was questioned why police weren't concentrating on those selling illegal fireworks and told one man to let police know and that they would enforce the law.

Two undercover officers were rolling the streets of Ceres with marked units in an attempt to locate the launching points of illegal fireworks exploding in the sky.

Police were also dealing with at least one person who was celebrating the Fourth of July with firearms. At 1:30 a.m. the next morning, police arrested a man in the 3200 block of Malik Drive and arrested him for discharging a firearm in a negligent manner. Jagga Sanghera, 45, of Ceres, was arrested for firing a rifle in the back yard. Several .45-caliber casings were found in the yard. The bolt-action rifle and a .45-caliber handgun were located and seized.

Statewide the California Highway Patrol reported that 41 persons were killed in motor vehicle accidents during the three-day holiday. CHP officers made 1,084 drunk driving arrests statewide.