• ASSAULT WITH CAR ALLEGED: CERES - A 34-year-old Ceres woman was arrested Dec. 27 after she allegedly gunned her car toward a store manager who confronted her moments earlier.
Police said that Mindy J. Bunch was with a friend in the CVS Pharmacy in the 1600 block of Hatch Road and that the store manager confronted them after suspecting they were up to no good.
The two left but at 10:19 p.m., some 40 minutes later, the manager went into the parking lot and Bunch allegedly nearly struck her with her car.
Bunch was located at the nearby AM/PM Mini-Mart and was arrested for reckless driving and assault with a deadly weapon.
• DUI ARREST: CERES - Brian J. Leonardo, 30, of Modesto, was arrested on charges of drunken driving on Dec. 28 after a Ceres policeman saw him weaving in the road and almost hit a curb. His arrest at Hatch and Moffet came at 9:34 p.m.
• STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERED: CERES - Sheriff's deputies located a stolen car and arrested the person responsible on Dec. 28.
Ceres Police were called out at 10:51 p.m. to the 900 block of Sun Meadow for a report that a 1995 Honda Accord was stolen. Police put out a bulletin and within 10 to 15 minutes a deputy spotted the stolen vehicle and arrested the driver, Angela Sanchez, 29. for auto theft.
The vehicle was returned to its owner.
• TEEN ARRESTED FOR VANDALISM: CERES - A 14-year-old Ceres teenage boy was arrested Dec. 30 after he bragged about vandalizing and breaking into an abandoned home in the 2900 block of Morgan Road.
At 11:25 a.m. on Dec. 29 the owner of the property called police to report vandalism and a possible burglary. Community Service Officer Michelle Houston took the report, which detailed that damage were in the value of $5,000 after the house was trashed and painted with graffiti.
At 9 p.m. Houston got a tip about the suspect and with Officer Freddie Ortiz located the boy. Evidence was taken that linked the boy to the crime. He was cited into Juvenile Hall on charges of felony vandalism.
• DUI ARREST AT WALMART: CERES - A teenager from Modesto was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 30 after he sped down Mitchell Road while under the influence of alcohol.
At 11:09 p.m.Officer Chris Melton was monitoring traffic in the area of Mitchell and Nicholas when he clocked Francisco Meza, 18, of Modesto, speeding at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone. He followed Meza into the parking lot of Walmart where he arrested Meza for drunk driving.
• CITIZEN REPORT LEADS TO ARREST: CERES - Timothy Cone, 46, of Ceres, went to jail on the last day of 2009 after a citizen called to report a possible drunk driver in the area of Seventh and Mary in Ceres. The call came in at 2:45 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
Sgt. Allen McKay found the car and made a stop in the area of Central and Caswell and arrested Cone.
• PURSUIT OF A DUI SUSPECT: CERES - A 21-year-old Ceres man was arrested New Year's Eve after he backed out of a driveway in the 3800 block of Redhaven Court and struck another car on the way out.
Police were dispatched to the area at 11:46 p.m. after the intoxicated suspect hit the other car. Sgt. Trenton Johnson found the car and driver in the 3800 block of Southwood Court. Christian Balejo, 21, of Ceres, ran away on foot, scaling fences not far from his own house. On a hunch, Johnson returned to Balejo's house where he found him hiding. He was arrested on charges of evading an officer, DUI, driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest.
• BAT LANDS GANG MEMBER AN ARREST: CERES - A teenager was arrested Jan. 3 after he was found to be carrying a concealed weapon in an aluminum baseball bat while violating the curfew in the area of Don Pedro Park.
At 12:42 a.m. Officer Freddie Ortiz observed six persons appearing to be minors near the park. Three of the six were juveniles. Ortiz arrested a 16-year-old Modesto boy on charges of possession of a concealed weapon. The teen said he was protecting himself from Norteno gang members as he was in the company of Surenos.
The rest were interviewed and released. All apparently were documented as either being Surenos or associates of them.
• DUI SUSPECT HITS CAR: CERES - Police say that an intoxicated driver was leaving a driveway in the 700 block Salamanca Court in Ceres and struck another vehicle in another driveway before taking off.
The incident happened at 1:19 a.m. to make it the first DUI arrest of 2010.
Gary S. Lambiase, 19, of Hayward, backed into a parked car and stood by until police arrived. He was arrested for DUI.
• BIG FIGHT AT LA CUEVA BAR: CERES - Police made one arrest as they broke up a huge fight involving about 30 persons New Year's Day at the La Cueva bar in the Punjab Plaze at S. Central Avenue and Pine Street.
The fight, which was inside the bar and out in the parking lot, was called in at 1:43 a.m. Officers arrived and dispersed the crowd.
Officer Jeremy Caron shot a "bean bag" round at a suspect who failed to stop after being ordered to do so as he made his way toward the bar with a jagged broken beer bottle in hand. The man dropped the bottle but fled into the crowd.
An intoxicated Stephanie Palomino, 26, of Modesto, was arrested after she swung her arm and hit an officer who was trying to separate her from someone she was fighting. Palomino was arrested on charges of battery on a peace officer and public intoxication.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Borges said that a couple of injured people were taken to the hospital for treatment of head injuries. None of the victims had information as to who assaulted them.
The interior of the bar yielded a knife, broken glass b ottles and blood.
• STORE ROBBED: CERES - Discount Cigarettes in the 2900 block of Whitmore Avenue sustained a broken glass window at 2:28 a.m. on Jan. 1 as someone made off with as alcohol and cigarettes.
• DRUGS FOUND ON SUSPECT: CERES - A man was arrested New Year's Day after he was seen acting suspiciously by knocking on windows of a house in the 1400 block of Hackett Road.
Police were called at 1:11 p.m. for the suspicious behavior of Samuel Herrera, 31, of Ceres, and a female companion. Herrera was on probation and searchable. An officer found a pouch in his vehicle believed to contain heroin and drug paraphernalia. He was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• WIRES STOLEN FROM PARK: CERES - A private security firm that patrols Ceres Riverbluff Regional Park discovered another case of electrical wires tampered with over the weekend.
The wires were stripped between 5 p.m. on Jan. 3 and 5:15 a.m. on Sunday.
• MAN WITH WARRANTS JAILED AFTER CRASH: CERES - A passenger in a car that crashed in the 1500 block of Boothe Road at 1:08 a.m. on ended up going to jail on Jan. 3 because he had five misdemeanor warrants.
The driver of the car fled after losing control and hitting a traffic control box. But passenger Randy Markle, 30, of Oakdale, stayed behind and faced arrest.
• SUSPICIOUS MAN HAS DRUGS: CERES - Officer Steven Carvalho stopped to speak to three persons loitering in the 2500 block of Morgan Road Sunday afternoon only to learn that one of them was a parolee in possession of stolen checks.
Carvalho stopped at 2:33 p.m. and learned that Justin M. Yarbrough, 35, of Empire, at first lied about his name. He later gave his real name and said he was on parole. The officer found checks taken from a Los Banos location. On the way to jail Yarbrough tried to slip off his cuffs to get rid of methamphetamine which he swallowed. The suspect was taken to the hospital for a medical clearance. Yarbrough was charged with possession of stolen property, destruction of evidence, possession of a controlled substance, violating the terms of his parole, and lying to a peace officer.
• DANGEROUS PURSUIT ENDS WELL: CERES - A car pursuit which Deputy Chief of Police said "could have been really ugly," ended with the participants unharmed.
The chase started at 2:18 a.m. on Monday when Officer Dirk Nieuwenhuis spotted a 1991 Ford Escort being driven without headlights in the area of Tranquil and Morgan. Nieuwenhuis tried to stop the car but the driver fled from the area of El Camino and Service roads. The 17-year-old Fresno driver raced down Mitchell Road and then entered southbound Highway 99 going the wrong direction. Nieuwenhuis planned to track the suspect by following down the southbound lanes in a parallel fashion but the suspect flipped a U-turn and went back to Mitchell the way he came. The chase ended back on the freeway with the suspect deciding to flee Ceres in the southbound lanes this time. The car was being driven between 80 and 90 mph.
The California Highway Patrol assisted in the capture by laying down spike strips to pop the tires in the Livingston area of Merced County.
Officers learned that the driver had his 16-year-old runaway girlfriend in the vehicle and their three-month-old infant who was not secured in a safety seat. The girl said he wouldn't let her out of the car so he earned a false imprisonment charge. The boy was also charged with felony evading of an officer and child endangerment.
Police said that Mindy J. Bunch was with a friend in the CVS Pharmacy in the 1600 block of Hatch Road and that the store manager confronted them after suspecting they were up to no good.
The two left but at 10:19 p.m., some 40 minutes later, the manager went into the parking lot and Bunch allegedly nearly struck her with her car.
Bunch was located at the nearby AM/PM Mini-Mart and was arrested for reckless driving and assault with a deadly weapon.
• DUI ARREST: CERES - Brian J. Leonardo, 30, of Modesto, was arrested on charges of drunken driving on Dec. 28 after a Ceres policeman saw him weaving in the road and almost hit a curb. His arrest at Hatch and Moffet came at 9:34 p.m.
• STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERED: CERES - Sheriff's deputies located a stolen car and arrested the person responsible on Dec. 28.
Ceres Police were called out at 10:51 p.m. to the 900 block of Sun Meadow for a report that a 1995 Honda Accord was stolen. Police put out a bulletin and within 10 to 15 minutes a deputy spotted the stolen vehicle and arrested the driver, Angela Sanchez, 29. for auto theft.
The vehicle was returned to its owner.
• TEEN ARRESTED FOR VANDALISM: CERES - A 14-year-old Ceres teenage boy was arrested Dec. 30 after he bragged about vandalizing and breaking into an abandoned home in the 2900 block of Morgan Road.
At 11:25 a.m. on Dec. 29 the owner of the property called police to report vandalism and a possible burglary. Community Service Officer Michelle Houston took the report, which detailed that damage were in the value of $5,000 after the house was trashed and painted with graffiti.
At 9 p.m. Houston got a tip about the suspect and with Officer Freddie Ortiz located the boy. Evidence was taken that linked the boy to the crime. He was cited into Juvenile Hall on charges of felony vandalism.
• DUI ARREST AT WALMART: CERES - A teenager from Modesto was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 30 after he sped down Mitchell Road while under the influence of alcohol.
At 11:09 p.m.Officer Chris Melton was monitoring traffic in the area of Mitchell and Nicholas when he clocked Francisco Meza, 18, of Modesto, speeding at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone. He followed Meza into the parking lot of Walmart where he arrested Meza for drunk driving.
• CITIZEN REPORT LEADS TO ARREST: CERES - Timothy Cone, 46, of Ceres, went to jail on the last day of 2009 after a citizen called to report a possible drunk driver in the area of Seventh and Mary in Ceres. The call came in at 2:45 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
Sgt. Allen McKay found the car and made a stop in the area of Central and Caswell and arrested Cone.
• PURSUIT OF A DUI SUSPECT: CERES - A 21-year-old Ceres man was arrested New Year's Eve after he backed out of a driveway in the 3800 block of Redhaven Court and struck another car on the way out.
Police were dispatched to the area at 11:46 p.m. after the intoxicated suspect hit the other car. Sgt. Trenton Johnson found the car and driver in the 3800 block of Southwood Court. Christian Balejo, 21, of Ceres, ran away on foot, scaling fences not far from his own house. On a hunch, Johnson returned to Balejo's house where he found him hiding. He was arrested on charges of evading an officer, DUI, driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest.
• BAT LANDS GANG MEMBER AN ARREST: CERES - A teenager was arrested Jan. 3 after he was found to be carrying a concealed weapon in an aluminum baseball bat while violating the curfew in the area of Don Pedro Park.
At 12:42 a.m. Officer Freddie Ortiz observed six persons appearing to be minors near the park. Three of the six were juveniles. Ortiz arrested a 16-year-old Modesto boy on charges of possession of a concealed weapon. The teen said he was protecting himself from Norteno gang members as he was in the company of Surenos.
The rest were interviewed and released. All apparently were documented as either being Surenos or associates of them.
• DUI SUSPECT HITS CAR: CERES - Police say that an intoxicated driver was leaving a driveway in the 700 block Salamanca Court in Ceres and struck another vehicle in another driveway before taking off.
The incident happened at 1:19 a.m. to make it the first DUI arrest of 2010.
Gary S. Lambiase, 19, of Hayward, backed into a parked car and stood by until police arrived. He was arrested for DUI.
• BIG FIGHT AT LA CUEVA BAR: CERES - Police made one arrest as they broke up a huge fight involving about 30 persons New Year's Day at the La Cueva bar in the Punjab Plaze at S. Central Avenue and Pine Street.
The fight, which was inside the bar and out in the parking lot, was called in at 1:43 a.m. Officers arrived and dispersed the crowd.
Officer Jeremy Caron shot a "bean bag" round at a suspect who failed to stop after being ordered to do so as he made his way toward the bar with a jagged broken beer bottle in hand. The man dropped the bottle but fled into the crowd.
An intoxicated Stephanie Palomino, 26, of Modesto, was arrested after she swung her arm and hit an officer who was trying to separate her from someone she was fighting. Palomino was arrested on charges of battery on a peace officer and public intoxication.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Borges said that a couple of injured people were taken to the hospital for treatment of head injuries. None of the victims had information as to who assaulted them.
The interior of the bar yielded a knife, broken glass b ottles and blood.
• STORE ROBBED: CERES - Discount Cigarettes in the 2900 block of Whitmore Avenue sustained a broken glass window at 2:28 a.m. on Jan. 1 as someone made off with as alcohol and cigarettes.
• DRUGS FOUND ON SUSPECT: CERES - A man was arrested New Year's Day after he was seen acting suspiciously by knocking on windows of a house in the 1400 block of Hackett Road.
Police were called at 1:11 p.m. for the suspicious behavior of Samuel Herrera, 31, of Ceres, and a female companion. Herrera was on probation and searchable. An officer found a pouch in his vehicle believed to contain heroin and drug paraphernalia. He was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• WIRES STOLEN FROM PARK: CERES - A private security firm that patrols Ceres Riverbluff Regional Park discovered another case of electrical wires tampered with over the weekend.
The wires were stripped between 5 p.m. on Jan. 3 and 5:15 a.m. on Sunday.
• MAN WITH WARRANTS JAILED AFTER CRASH: CERES - A passenger in a car that crashed in the 1500 block of Boothe Road at 1:08 a.m. on ended up going to jail on Jan. 3 because he had five misdemeanor warrants.
The driver of the car fled after losing control and hitting a traffic control box. But passenger Randy Markle, 30, of Oakdale, stayed behind and faced arrest.
• SUSPICIOUS MAN HAS DRUGS: CERES - Officer Steven Carvalho stopped to speak to three persons loitering in the 2500 block of Morgan Road Sunday afternoon only to learn that one of them was a parolee in possession of stolen checks.
Carvalho stopped at 2:33 p.m. and learned that Justin M. Yarbrough, 35, of Empire, at first lied about his name. He later gave his real name and said he was on parole. The officer found checks taken from a Los Banos location. On the way to jail Yarbrough tried to slip off his cuffs to get rid of methamphetamine which he swallowed. The suspect was taken to the hospital for a medical clearance. Yarbrough was charged with possession of stolen property, destruction of evidence, possession of a controlled substance, violating the terms of his parole, and lying to a peace officer.
• DANGEROUS PURSUIT ENDS WELL: CERES - A car pursuit which Deputy Chief of Police said "could have been really ugly," ended with the participants unharmed.
The chase started at 2:18 a.m. on Monday when Officer Dirk Nieuwenhuis spotted a 1991 Ford Escort being driven without headlights in the area of Tranquil and Morgan. Nieuwenhuis tried to stop the car but the driver fled from the area of El Camino and Service roads. The 17-year-old Fresno driver raced down Mitchell Road and then entered southbound Highway 99 going the wrong direction. Nieuwenhuis planned to track the suspect by following down the southbound lanes in a parallel fashion but the suspect flipped a U-turn and went back to Mitchell the way he came. The chase ended back on the freeway with the suspect deciding to flee Ceres in the southbound lanes this time. The car was being driven between 80 and 90 mph.
The California Highway Patrol assisted in the capture by laying down spike strips to pop the tires in the Livingston area of Merced County.
Officers learned that the driver had his 16-year-old runaway girlfriend in the vehicle and their three-month-old infant who was not secured in a safety seat. The girl said he wouldn't let her out of the car so he earned a false imprisonment charge. The boy was also charged with felony evading of an officer and child endangerment.
