3 Arrested, 1 Sought After Catalytic Converter Theft Suspects Ram SFPD Car
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Three people were arrested and a fourth suspect remained at large after officers on a traffic stop of suspected thieves in San Francisco had their patrol vehicle rammed by the suspect vehicle.
San Francisco police said officers from Ingleside Station were patrolling in the area of Geneva Ave. and Howth St. Monday at around 2:41 a.m. when they saw a vehicle double-parked on the street with several people standing around the vehicle. Officers also observed the vehicle next to the double-parked vehicle was lifted on a floor jack.
As officers pulled up, the people standing got into the double-parked vehicle, and drove off, leaving behind the vehicle still lifted on the floor jack, police said.
Officers followed the vehicle as it abruptly turned onto a dead-end street with the officers stopping just behind the vehicle. Instead of complying with the officers' orders, police said the driver instead put the vehicle in reverse, accelerated and smashed into the patrol car.
When the suspect car wasn't able to push the patrol car out of the way, the driver then drove forward and hit a trash dumpster, police said.
The driver of the vehicle and a passenger then ran off into a nearby construction area, as the vehicle began to roll away and eventually hit another vehicle. Officers the two people who remained in the suspect vehicle.
Other officers arrived and searched the construction site, finding one of the suspects next to a discarded handbag, police said. He was arrested but the second suspect was not found.
Multiple witnesses and neighbors came forward to give statements, including one neighbor who had security camera footage of the fourth suspect climbing over backyard fences. Officers did not find the suspect but did locate a firearm discarded in one of the backyards, police said.
A search of the suspect car yielded a carry bag containing a handgun, ammunition, and narcotics, a second carry bag containing a loaded and illegal extended gun magazine, burglary tools, and a BB gun. One suspect was also in possession of narcotics, police said.
After talking with the owner of the parked vehicle left on the floor jack, determined the suspects were in the process of stealing the vehicle's catalytic converter.
The three unidentified suspects were arrested on multiple charges, including conspiracy, aggravated assault, weapons and narcotics offenses, and attempted grand theft.
