4 Arrested In Car Theft, Conspiracy, Burglary In Petaluma: Police

PETALUMA, CA — Four East Bay residents were arrested New Year's Eve in Petaluma on suspicion of car theft, burglary, conspiracy and evading, the Petaluma Police Department said.

Officers initially responded when an alert resident called to police early Friday morning to report a possible car burglary near J and 5th streets, Petaluma police Sgt. Paul Gilman said.

When officers got to J and 5th, the suspects drove off and continued to flee in an apparent attempt to evade officers, Gilman said.

The suspect car reached an estimated 90 mph on Petaluma Boulevard South, police said.

As the suspects approached the roundabout at Petaluma Boulevard South and Crystal Lane, the driver lost control and crashed. Several people ran from the car into the Quarry Heights neighborhood, Gilman said.

Officers searched the car for any injured people and found construction tools worth more than $5,000 that appeared to be stolen, Gilman said.

No one was inside the car, which was reported stolen from Oakland and had license plates stolen from another car, according to police.

In a search of the neighborhood, a 16-year-old boy from Oakland was found hiding in the bed of a pickup truck.

Officers soon found 22-year-old Anna Barajas, of Oakland.

"She was sitting in a vehicle, and it was discovered that she was communicating with the outstanding subject via cellphone and assisting him in avoiding arrest by law enforcement," Gilman said. "She was arrested as an accessory to the thefts."

The minor was booked into Juvenile Hall and Barajas was taken to Sonoma County jail.

Officers with the dayshift crew began to patrol both the Quarry Heights and Sterling Heights neighborhoods to prevent additional thefts and to apprehend the outstanding suspects.

After an officer saw two people walking from the hillside back toward the Sterling Heights model homes, Karina Melara, 19, of Berkeley, and Josue Cervantes of Oakland, were found hiding near one of the model homes and were taken into custody without further incident, police said.

As police were arresting the pair, a man called Petaluma PD to report more than $8,000 in tools were stolen in a burglary at a job site on D Street.

Melara and Cervantes were booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of burglary, evading, possession of stolen property, conspiracy, and vehicle theft, Gilman said.