Images Above: Mugshot and evidence | Courtesy of Berkeley Police Department
BERKELEY — A man with an affinity for catalytic converters faces multiple charges. Oscar J. Cerrato-Garcia, a 28-year-old roofer, was arrested outside a dodgy motel—his seventh arrest this year.
Cerrato-Garcia was wearing a GPS monitor when he was taken into custody. His monitoring bracelet relates to a conviction in San Francisco for catalytic converter theft.
His latest arrest concerns two catalytic converter thefts in Berkeley on October 6. During one on Oak Street, Cerrato-Garcia allegedly fired gunshots at a witness. Video surveillance evidence was reviewed, and it turns out the suspect fled from the scene in a stolen vehicle. Later it was found abandoned in Oakland.
The GPS ankle bracelet he wears made it easy for Berkeley PD to find him October 27. He was apprehended at Holiday Motel on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland. When Cerrato-Garcia saw police, he allegedly discarded a backpack, but it was recovered.
Inside the backpack police found a handgun, methamphetamine, and keys to yet another stolen vehicle—parked nearby. A search of his motel room turned up ammunition, a reciprocating saw
and three vehicle jacks.
Cerrato-Garcia was booked into Santa Rita Jail. Multiple charges were filed October 31 against him. He is in custody in lieu of $110,000 bond, pending a November 9 hearing. His charges include grand theft, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Earlier this year, he was arrested for theft of a catalytic converter in Hayward—but not convicted. Last year, he was arrested three times for burglary, receiving a stolen vehicle, among other offenses.
by Jim Emerson
