A Ceres police officer who witnessed the suspicious behavior of a 29-year-old Turlock man watched him jump into someone’s vehicle Monday morning and take off. The man was quickly stopped and arrested for auto theft.

At 9:09 a.m., Officer Jesus Salinas watched Hayden Fay, 29, of Turlock acting strangely in the parking lot of the Shell Gas station in the 3000 block of Fourth Street. When Fay saw Officer Jesus Salinas he quickly walked to a black 2001 Nissan Frontier, parked at the gas pumps, climbed in and drove off. 

A registration check of the Nissan revealed the vehicle had been stolen earlier in Modesto. Officer Salinas pulled over Fay at Fourth Street and El Camino Avenue where he was detained and arrested for possessing a stolen vehicle and stolen property. 

He was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center.