The three-day holiday weekend in Manteca was marred by two shootings and eight stabbings.

 Two of the stabbings reportedly occurred outside the Big League Dreams Fourth of July celebration on Sunday night.

In a separate incident, a 20-year-old Manteca man, Justin Wingard, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with attempted murder in the Saturday night shooting of a man at the Rose Motel on Moffat Boulevard.

Manteca Police responded to a report of several shots fired from a vehicle. Upon arrival, they found a man suffering from a grazing wound to the side.

Detective Paul Carmona said the two men were initially involved in an argument outside the motel. He added that apparently Wingard had left and returned to vandalize the victim’s vehicle.  He reportedly left the scene again after a confrontation, but came back with a gun and allegedly opened fire.

In addition to the attempted murder charge Wingard was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  He is being held without bail at the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp.

The most serious injury of the weekend came from a fight at the corner of Alameda and Main streets that was reported at 3:19 a.m. Sunday.  Jorge Ornelas, 21, of Manteca was taken to Doctors Hospital of Manteca having been slashed in the throat.  He was said to be in critical condition and immediately transported to the trauma center at Doctors Hospital of Modesto.

Police said the victim had stopped at a convenience store just to buy a cigar.  He reportedly went to talk with friends in the parking lot for a few minutes.  As he was driving away he saw a fight developing and returned to help his friends.

When officers arrived they found nothing but soon were called by hospital emergency room staffers saying that they had a man with a serious knife wound to his throat. 

Police arrested three confirmed gang members in the case in the 400 block of North Poplar Avenue and charged them with attempted murder, street terrorism and conspiracy along with gang enhancements.  Arrested were Daniel Ochoa, 22; Marco Patino, 23; and Alexis Gonzalez, 19.  Patino and Gonzalez were also being held for the U.S. Border Patrol.

All three are scheduled to appear at the Manteca Branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court at 1:30 p.m. today.  Police said they were all from out of the area.

Just five minutes past midnight Sunday the driver of a pickup told police he had been driving near Acacia and Center streets where he was involved in a minor crash.  He said the other driver did not stop and he followed the other vehicle – a primered gray Chevy truck.

The motorist said someone in the vehicle fired several rounds at him out of the car window with a hand gun near Rose and Center streets.  One of the bullets hit and cracked his windshield, police said.  The assaulted motorist was a male adult who had a 17-year-old juvenile in the vehicle.  He said there were four to five Hispanics in the car that was firing at him.  Police were not able to locate the responsibles.



Armed Robbery

Shortly after midnight Saturday morning officers responded to an armed robbery at the corner of Locust and Yosemite avenues.  A police spokesman said the victim told of a silver Honda pulling over to the curb next to him with the passenger jumping out and threatening him with a hand gun.

The victim said he had his car keys and $60 in cash taken from him in the robbery.  He described the suspect as being a heavy-set Hispanic man with a mustache he believed to be about 20 years old.  The vehicle reportedly had tinted rear windows and a partial license plate of 4LXY.

On Sunday morning another knifing occurred outside a Mexican restaurant in the 1100 block of West Yosemite Avenue.  A 23-year-old victim said he and his friends had been walking to their car after leaving the restaurant when they were met by a group of some six to eight males dressed in red.

He told officers they had asked if he and his friends were gang members.  When they said they were not, they were jumped.  Police said the man was stabbed in the back seven times.  They reportedly fled on foot and were not in the area when police arrived.

At 1:13 a.m. Monday Kaiser Hospital reported they had a knifing victim with a stab wound in his back they believed had occurred in the Big League Dreams area. Police said they learned the victim had been assaulted as he walked on the sidewalk near the intersection outside the park.  He said he was jumped by one suspect.

Officers said a second victim stabbed after the fireworks display had been knifed in the stomach near the front gates.  Someone had jumped on the back of the victim’s 21-year-old cousin visiting from Oakland, police said.  Witnesses told of hearing someone yelling “LHP” in the crowd which is the acronym for a Lathrop gang.  The victim was transported to Kaiser Hospital.



Attack inside store

Shortly after noon on Monday a 17-year-old juvenile shopping at Wal Mart with his parents was slashed by a suspected gang member.  Walking past the family were two teens – 17 and 15 years old.  Police said the older teen accused the youth of looking at his girl friend. The attacker was reported as  saying he didn’t like his girl friend being looked at.

The victim was reportedly cut with an unknown object.  He grabbed a can of hair spray and struck his aggressor in the face.  The two suspects fled the store and were followed by loss prevention officers who led police to their location.  The incident had also been captured on the store’s security video camera.  They were arrested walking on a nearby residential street.

Police said they were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and for resisting arrest. They were transported to juvenile hall.