Oakley Police Catch Catalytic Converter Thieves Associated with a Firearm

On August 24, Oakley police officers responded to 3-4 people stealing the catalytic converters from a neighbors vehicles.

According to police, at 1:45AM Oakley police officers were dispatched to the 900 block of Stonegate Circle because a witness reported seeing 3-4 people, who were associated with a white Dodge Magnum car, stealing the catalytic converters from a neighbors vehicles.

Oakley Police officers arrived in the area, but the suspects quickly fled and eluded capture. Later during the morning commute a local resident called us to report seeing a handgun in the middle of the road at the intersection of Vintage Parkway and Piper Lane.

Officers responded to the area and found the gun to be a Glock style ghost gun (no maker marks or serial numbers). The gun did not have a magazine in it, but it did have one 9mm live round chambered in it. The gun was found in what was believed to be the flight path of the Dodge Magnum. The night shift officers debriefed our day shift officers of the situation before going home.

Later in the day, at 1:03PM, Oakley officers were sent back out to the area of Concannon Drive and Vintage Parkway because the victim of the catalytic converter thefts from 12 hours earlier saw the same Dodge Magnum driving around in the area. Our day shift officers were fully aware of what the victim was reporting because of the brief they received from the night shift officers.

Officers located the Dodge Magnum and detained the driver (Espiritu-Gonzalez, Jorge- 22, male, Antioch). A quick cursory view of the Dodge Magnum revealed several catalytic converters in the rear portion of it. Our officers continued to search the area and they found Espana-Quintanilla, Carlos (21, male, Antioch) on foot in the direct area of where the gun was located.

Officers detained Espana-Quintanilla and found him to be in possession of a 9mm magazine that fits the recovered gun. The magazine was also loaded with several round of 9mm ammunition.

Espiritu-Gonzalez and Espana-Quintanilla were both placed under arrest and transported to the police department. The Dodge Magnum was also towed to the police department where our detectives obtained a search warrant to search it. Once the search warrant was granted our detectives recovered a total of 11 cleanly, and freshly, cut catalytic converters from the rear area of the vehicle and several tools such as: reciprocating saw, spare saw blades, 3 ton jack, impact wrench and miscellaneous hand tools. Several key fobs were also found in the Dodge Magnum for several makes of vehicles.

Espiritu-Gonzalez was booked for:

• Possession of stolen property- felony
• Grand theft- felony
• Possession of burglary tools- misdemeanor

Espana-Quintanilla was booked for:

• Possession of a large capacity magazine- misdemeanor

If anybody has inquiries or information on this case please email Detective Dombrouski at [email protected]

“This case was a very good example of how the community and the police can and should work together. Our community members noticed something was wrong three different times during the totality of the developments of this case and they got our officers involved. Each time our officers positively engaged with the community members and tried to bring about swift outcomes even though the suspects did initially elude us.

I want every body to notice what this case represents however, and that is the propensity of catalytic converter thieves to arm themselves. I am grateful no shots were fired during this investigation, but that is not always the case. Most recently in the Bay Area a victim was shot in the leg in Sunnyvale when he interrupted four men stealing his catalytic converter. For too long the state of California has taken a position of being soft on property crime criminals. Property crime criminals are showing the tendencies to resort to violence and weapons more and more. This means more and more victims are being subjected to violence. Please be safe in and around your homes and by all means call your police department when something does not seem right. Stay safe Oakley.” ~Chief Paul Beard

Previous Stories

• June 20 – Six Arrested in Bay Area Catalytic Converter Theft Operation
• June 1 – State Assembly Passes Bill Cracking Down on Catalytic Converter Thieves
• April 13 – Antioch Police Announce Catalytic Converter Etch Program