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Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Tag Archives: Auto Theft

The SAPD has arrested an auto theft suspect

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Suspect Pedro Junior Lopez (33) has been located and arrested.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE – On 10/09/2019 at 8:20 AM, wanted suspect Lopez was caught on video surveillance stealing a vehicle from the rear parking lot of the Jack In The Box.

Prior to being reported stolen, Lopez was stopped in the vehicle in the area of Chestnut and Standard Avenue, and provided a false name. The vehicle was later found abandoned at 100 S. Cedar and was partially stripped. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Lopez please contact Detective Romero at (714) 245-8529.

The SAPD is looking for a home invasion suspect who also stole a vehicle

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On 4-18-2019 at 5:00 am, SAPD police officers responded to the 900 block of West Riviera reference a male suspect who had broken into the victim’s residence, according to the SAPD.

The female victim was sleeping on the family room couch was awoken and confronted by the suspect. The victim attempted to flee and was struck by the suspect with the chair. The suspect then grabbed the victim by the throat and demanded her vehicle keys. The victim complied and handed the car keys to him. The suspect took the victims keys and fled out the front door where he was captured on home video surveillance. The suspect stole the victim’s vehicle and fled the scene.

During the investigation, the California Highway Patrol advised the suspect vehicle had crashed into the center divider of the I-5 Freeway at Main Street where he fled on foot. With the assistance of the CHP, officers searched the freeway and immediate area, the suspect was not located and remains at large. The investigation remains active at this time.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect seen on the video is asked to contact Robbery Detective D. Greaver at 714-245-8362.

A Santa Ana robbery suspect was arrested after leading the SAPD on a pursuit in DTSA

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Santos Ramirez, 25, of Santa Ana, an auto theft suspect, led the SAPD through traffic Thursday on the 55 Freeway and surface streets in downtown Santa Ana before he was finally arrested, according to the O.C. Register.

One of our readers reported via Facebook that the suspect had been walking up to folks and stealing their purses. The SAPD confirmed that they had received reports of a possible robbery at about 4 p.m.

The responding SAPD police officers found the suspect in what turned out to be a stolen 2002 Chevy Tahoe. However when the police tried to pull him over the suspect took off in the stolen vehicle.

The suspect took off down West 1st Street, at times driving toward oncoming traffic, before he entered the 55 Freeway, going south.

The chase briefly sped along the 55 Freeway before jumping back onto city streets. The suspect was followed closely by about a dozen police cruisers in heavy rush-hour traffic, according to NBC News.

Ramirez was booked on suspicion of grand theft auto, driving under the influence of drugs, felony evading arrest and other offenses, according to the SAPD.

An auto thief on parole was arrested in Santa Ana after a police pursuit

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Kenneth Durazo

Garden Grove police set up surveillance on a vehicle that was stolen in a residential burglary on Oct. 25. The vehicle was left in the area of Euclid and W. First Streets, in Santa Ana, according to the O.C. Register.

The surveillance trap worked! A suspect got into the stolen red Jeep Liberty at 11:45 a.m yesterday. and started to drive it away. Police attempted to stop the suspect but he sped off. Continue reading→

Five suspects arrested for grand theft of autos in Orange County worth over $1M

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ORANGE COUNTY AUTO THEFT TASK FORCE ARRESTED FIVE SUSPECTS FOR GRAND THEFT AUTO AND GRAND THEFT AS A RESULT OF AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION

*Total loss exceeds $1 million

SANTA ANA, Calif. – In August 2018, detectives and investigators from the Orange County Auto Theft Task Force (OCATT), along with members of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Border and Southern Division Investigative Services Units (ISU) as well as the California Attorney General’s (CAG) Office, arrested five suspects in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Diego.

Arthur Ray Ammons, 40, Los Angeles; Dwon Lamont McCarthy, 43, Los Angeles; Dunya Elina Wade, 45, Los Angeles; Jedon Jennifer Olivia Nelson, 27, Los Angeles; Gaylord John Pierce, 59, Los Angeles were charged with various crimes including grand theft auto, grand theft, attempted grand theft auto, and receiving stolen property. They are expected to be arraigned at a date to be announced. Eight suspects remain outstanding and are actively being sought by the OCATT. Continue reading→

A Santa Ana man was arrested in Fountain Valley for breaking into cars

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Charles Pena

On Saturday morning, June 9, 2018, at 4:05 a.m., a resident saw two suspicious subjects possibly breaking into a car in the 18200 block of Santa Arabella Street in Fountain Valley, according to the Fountain Valley Police Department.

The witness called 9-1-1 and Fountain Valley police officers quickly responded to the area. Continue reading→

A suspect stole an OCTA shuttle bus in Irvine and crashed it in Costa Mesa on Thursday night

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A suspect stole an OCTA shuttle bus in Irvine on Thursday night and led Irvine police officers on an approximately half-hour chase that ended with a crash into a guardrail on a freeway in Costa Mesa, according to NBC.

The bus was reported stolen from near the intersection of Barranca Parkway and Harvard Avenue at about 6:20 p.m., according to KTLA. Continue reading→

A suspect was arrested in Bellflower after a wild police pursuit that started in Santa Ana

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The SAPD tried to stop the driver of a possibly stolen Audi sedan with paper dealer plates this morning at about 10 a.m. The driver took off and led the police on a wild pursuit that finally ended in Bellflower at about 11:25 a.m.

The suspect led the pursuing SAPD police officers onto the northbound 405 Freeway and then onto the northbound 605 Freeway, according to the O.C. Register. Continue reading→

The O.C. Auto Theft Task Force recovered 224 stolen vehicles last year valued at over $4M

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: February 27, 2018

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY TONY RACKAUCKAS HIGHLIGHTS SUCCESS OF OC AUTO THEFT TASK FORCE IN PRESENTATION TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – At the request of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackauckas delivered a presentation to the Board today highlighting the success of the Orange County Auto Theft Task Force (OCATT).

OCATT is a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement program that works to investigate, arrest, and prosecute criminals in Orange County responsible for professional-level auto theft rings. The task force has operated in Orange County since 1993 and has successfully contributed to a 55 percent decrease in auto theft across the county since its creation. Continue reading→

Santa Ana car thieves led police on a pursuit before crashing near Corona on Friday night

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Three people in a stolen car were arrested Friday night, Dec. 15, after a police pursuit that began in Santa Ana and ended near Corona, according to the O.C. Register.

SAPD police officers tried to pull over a stolen Nissan Sentra near the intersection of Broadway and Cubbon St. just before 9 p.m. on Friday night, but the suspects sped off staring a pursuit that proceeded north on the 5 Freeway and then East on the 91 Fwy. Continue reading→

Santa Ana man who stole and trashed a Ferrari caught begging for gas two weeks later

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Israel Perez Rangel, 38, a Santa Ana man got caught begging for gas money for what turned out to be a stolen $265,000 Ferrari and he was finally arrested after a two-week joyride that trashed the stolen vehicle, according to the O.C. Register.

Rangel was being held in the Orange County jail on suspicion of vehicle theft and grand theft auto with prior convictions and vandalism causing damages of $10,000 or more. Continue reading→

Three Irvine auto theft suspects were caught in Huntington Beach this morning after a police pursuit

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Three people were arrested Thursday, Nov. 9, following a high-speed police pursuit that began in Fountain Valley and ended in Huntington Beach, according to the O.C. Register.

The suspects apparently were seen driving a Toyota Camry that had been reported stolen in Irvine, at around 5:30 a.m. this morning, near Euclid St. and Warner Ave. Continue reading→

A man in an allegedly stolen Jaguar was arrested by the SAPD after a pursuit

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An unidentified man suspected of driving a stolen car and leading SAPD police officers on a chase, crashed into two cars before being arrested yesterday, according to the O.C. Register.

SAPD police officers tried to pull over the suspect on Wednesday afternoon, at around 4:50 p.m., on August 2, as he was driving a Jaguar. He was suspected of a traffic violation near the cross streets of S. Bristol Street and W. Warner Avenue, according to the SAPD. Continue reading→

A 17-year old Santa Ana male was arrested in Corona today after fleeing in a stolen car

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Auto Theft Suspects Arrested after Pursuit

Corona PD CR #17-7016

Today, at 10:04 AM, Riverside PD’s air unit, Air-1, alerted Corona Police Dispatch to a pursuit of a stolen Honda Civic in the area of Hidden Valley and I-15. Corona units took over the pursuit of the Civic, which had been reported stolen to Buena Park Police earlier today, when it exited the 91 freeway at Main Street.

The driver, a 17 year-old male from Santa Ana, and the passenger, a 19 year-old male from Orange, were taken into custody without incident when the Civic stopped on Lilac Street near Via Santiago. Continue reading→

An SAPD police officer was injured today while pursuing an auto theft suspect

Posted on by Posted in Crime, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Los Cristales Bar

An unidentified man led SAPD police officers on a short car chase today after he fled from a traffic stop, in a stolen pickup truck, at 5:50 p.m., at McFadden and Grand Ave., according to the O.C. Register.

During the police pursuit the suspect intentionally rammed the pickup truck into a police cruiser. He then fled from the truck on foot and ran from  the police for a few blocks. Continue reading→