Schools briefly on lockdown during vehicle-theft arrest

Two schools on Woodrow Avenue in Modesto briefly were put on lockdown Wednesday morning as police made a vehicle-theft arrest.

At 7:22, a suspicious-vehicle report was called in. A man and a woman were sleeping in a maroon Saturn sedan in the parking lot of Treehouse Christian Preschool, 921 Woodrow, said police Lt. Tom Ciccarelli.

An officer arrived on scene shortly after 7:30. As a precaution, Treehouse and nearby Woodrow Elementary, on the 800 block of the avenue, were put on lockdown and parents dropping off children to the schools were diverted.

The officer ran the plates of the car and found it had been reported stolen, Ciccarelli said. The occupants of the Saturn were awake by this point, and there was some concern they would flee, he said, but they didn't and were taken into custody at the scene.

The names of the two arrested were not immediately available. The incident summary did not indicate which person was determined to be the driver — typically the person charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, the lieutenant said.

There was no indication that weapons or drugs were found on the suspects or in the vehicle.

This story was originally published September 13, 2017 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Schools briefly on lockdown during vehicle-theft arrest."