Police arrest suspected Berkeley hills catalytic converter thief

Berkeley police arrest catalytic converter suspected thief

Berkeley police arrest Oscar Cerrato Garcia, accused of stealing catalytic converters.

BERKELEY, Calif. - Berkeley police have arrested a 28-year-old man suspected of a string of catalytic converter thefts in the hills, including one where he is accused of shooting a gun at a witness.

Oscar Cerrato-Garcia was taken into custody on Oct. 27 after police tracked him to an Oakland motel, police said in a news release, where they tweeted out photos of the gun, money and bullets.

Police said the arrest stems from what happened on Oct. 6 just before 6 a.m.

Two suspects stole a catalytic converter from a car parked on the 500 block of Spruce Street. About five minutes later, another catalytic converter theft occurred on the 2300 block of Oak Street during which a suspect fired a gun at a witness, police said.

KTVU talked to the man who was shot at last month. Joe said he couldn't just stand by and do nothing when he was awakened by the sounds of sawing and spotted two men. One was standing guard while the second was underneath a neighbor's red Prius, trying to saw off the catalytic converter. He threw a rock at the thieves and avoided injury when the suspects fired back.

From security video footage in the area, detectives were able to identify the vehicle used by the suspects as a vehicle stolen from San Francisco. When the stolen vehicle was later found abandoned in Oakland, detectives found ammunition, ski masks and saw blades, police said.

When police attempted to apprehend Cerrato-Garcia, he fled and tossed a backpack he was carrying containing a ghost gun, some methamphetamine and keys to a stolen vehicle, officials said.

According to the Berkeley Scanner, as Cerrato-Garcia was wearing an ankle monitor related to another catalytic converter theft from San Francisco during the Berkeley crimes, which helped police track him down.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged Cerrato-Garcia on Monday with two counts of grand theft, felon in possession of a firearm and prohibited person in possession of ammunition, according to the release.