A 34-year-old Modesto man was arrested and booked on a variety of gun and drug charges Saturday after he fled from police and jumped over a fence onto the Ceres High School campus in an attempt to elude police.

At 3:57 p.m., Ceres Police Officer Nicholas Welsh was on patrol in the area of Whitmore Avenue and Fifth Street when he observed a motorcyclist driving recklessly. When Officer Welsh attempted to stop rider Jose Padilla, 34, of Modesto, he rode through the Lazy Wheels Mobile Home Park at 1941 Whitmore Avenue and exited to continue riding across Herndon Road and onto Linda Way. Officer Welsh observed the motorcycle abandoned and watched Padilla running towards Ceres High School where he climbed a fence and attempted to hide in a bathroom. However, officers quickly apprehended him.

Officer Welsh returned to the ditched motorcycle and began searching for items Padilla discarded during the chase. He found Padilla’s helmet, clothing and backpack which contained a loaded stolen handgun and a baggy containing a white powdery substance believed to be fentanyl. Also recovered were items commonly used in drug sales.

Padilla was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center for being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm not registered to him, evading police in a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance for sales, transporting a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance while armed and resisting arrest.