At about 2:08am Saturday morning, Officer De La Cruz was conducting extra patrol downtown, when he witnessed a driver attempt to run a pedestrian over.

De La Cruz and an assisting officer stopped both the driver and pedestrian to investigate what was going on.

The driver was identified as James Morris, 25, of Modesto, while the pedestrian was identified as Albert Guinard, 47, of Turlock.

Morris told De La Cruz that while he was driving, Guinard had looked at him and told him to get out of the car. Morris stated that he thought Guinard wanted to carjack him and that he had a gun because he kept his hand behind his back.

Instead of driving away and calling police, Morris decided to make a U-turn in a parking lot, then rapidly drive towards Guinard, who was on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Guinard had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by Morris.

Through the investigation, it was determined that Guinard had no gun as Morris had thought, however, he was under the influence of alcohol and unable to care for himself.

Guinard and Morris were both arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center, Guinard on the charge of public intoxication and Morris on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm.

Morris’ vehicle was also impounded.