Ceres grocery managers tell how they aided teen who fled alleged abusive home
David Avila and Rebecca Renard put aside their grocery manager duties to aid a Ceres teenager fleeing alleged abuse Wednesday.
Police said the autistic 15-year-old boy ran naked and with his wrists bound into Cost Less Foods on Hatch Road at about 1:45 p.m. March 26.
Avila said Thursday that they determined the youth was not a threat and persuaded him to remain in Aisle 16 until officers arrived.
“Once he was calmed down, we got him a raincoat to cover himself up,” the manager said. “Meanwhile, I was on the phone to the PD while all this was going on.”
The juvenile is nonverbal and was not communicating, Lt. Jeff Godfrey said in an email. Asked if store employees freed the teens hands, he said “I believe the paramedics are the folks who freed his hands prior to rendering aid.”
Other witnesses had seen teen running
Several other witnesses had called police after seeing the teen running in the area of Hatch and Richland Avenue. Officers responded to Cost Less and found the boy had “multiple visible injuries,” according to a news release. It did not provide details but did say the boy was taken to a hospital.
The release said police determined that he lived in a home in “poor condition” on the 1600 block of Richland. His mother, Leandra Renteria, 36, was arrested on charges of child abuse and neglect. She had shown up at Cost Less looking for her son during the investigation, Godfrey said.
Police arrested two other Ceres residents on the same charges: Gary Wilson, 58, and Lenore Wilson, 54. Their alleged roles were not disclosed.
Lenore Wilson is Renteria’s mother, and Gary Wilson is Lenore’s husband, Godfrey said. There’s no history of Ceres police responding to the home “related to this crime,” he said.
The release said Renteria also has a 12-year-old autistic daughter, who was found safe at the home. She was placed with Child Protective Services.
High praise from the boss at Ceres store
Store Director Del Ambris praised his two managers’ efforts in a Thursday morning interview in his office. The boss said this was an outsize example of the community service long offered by this Cost Less location. This includes developmentally disabled clients of the Howard Training Center, who often walk a quarter-mile to hone their shopping skills.
Ambris said Wednesday’s encounter was stressful for his employees, but he told them that they had done well.
“Rather than dwell on what happened to this kid, let’s look at what’s going to happen to this kid,” he said. “The bad part of his life, hopefully, now is changing.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
