Ceres Police: Lodi man broke into occupied home while running from officers

A Lodi man suspected of crashing a stolen car on the highway, then breaking into a Ceres home to avoid arrest, was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail Tuesday morning.

The incident began just before 9 a.m. when the suspect crashed a Honda Civic stolen from Turlock into the center divide of northbound Highway 99 near Herndon Road, said Ceres Police Sgt. Jason Coley. He said the suspect was believed to have been under the influence.

The California Highway Patrol called Ceres police to assist after the suspect ran across the freeway and jumped over a chain-link fence, fleeing into a nearby neighborhood.

Officers set up a perimeter around the neighborhood, where witnesses reported seeing the suspect jumping over fences into the back yards of homes.

Coley said at one point the suspect broke into a home in the 1600 block of Peltola Street, where a woman and her juvenile child were inside.

He said the suspect told the two not to move, saying he’d been in a car accident and the police were looking for him. He also allegedly prevented them from leaving through the front door and physically moved the juvenile away from it, Coley said.

The suspect was found a short time after that when he left the home on Peltola and, while running through the back yard on adjacent Stephanie Way, fell into a pool.

Michael Tyler, 32, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment to avoid arrest, burglary, resisting arrest, auto theft and possession of stolen property.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Ceres Police: Lodi man broke into occupied home while running from officers."