Teenage suspects flip car in Ceres after pursuit

After three hit and run collisions between south Modesto and Ceres and a pursuit, five teenage boys are in custody.

The incident began just after 2 p.m. Thursday when a Stanislaus County Sheriff's deputy saw a stolen white Honda traveling at high speeds on southbound Highway 99 near Tuolumne Boulevard, Stanislaus County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Parker said.

The Honda exited onto Crows Landing Road where it hit another vehicle then fled. No one was injured in the crash.

The deputy pursued the Honda back onto southbound Highway 99 where it drove recklessly, splitting lanes and side-swiped a van, Parker said.

The Honda exited onto eastbound Whitmore Avenue in Ceres and ran a stop sign at El Camino Avenue. Parker said the pursuit was terminated two blocks later but the vehicle crashed shortly after that.

Ceres resident Donald Wesley said he saw the Honda turn north onto Fourth Street from Whitmore where it lost control. The car hit a sign, overturned and wound up on its roof in the front yard of a home there.

Fourth Street resident Raven Padilla said she and her friend came out of her home in time to see two of the teens getting out of the vehicle.

She and her friend are both Certified Nursing Assistants so they approached one of them who was bleeding. Padilla said when her friend asked if he was OK, he took a swing at her but missed.

Both teens then ran north on Fourth and hopped a fence where the street dead ends into the Ceres High School baseball field.

All five suspects were located and detained north of Ceres High School on Thomas Street. Two of the suspects were taken by ambulance to Modesto hospitals with minor injuries.

The vehicle they were in was reported stolen from south Modesto on Wednesday. Parker said authorities are working to determine if it is the same vehicle Modesto Police pursued for a short time on Yosemite Boulevard on Wednesday night.

He did not have details about the ages of the suspects or potential charges late Thursday afternoon.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Teenage suspects flip car in Ceres after pursuit."