OAKLAND — Police were able to locate and raid a suspected chop shop only after an alleged car thief unwittingly led sheriff’s investigators to the site after a dangerous car chase, according to court records.
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The Jan. 31 raid in Oakland came two weeks after Alameda County Sheriff’s investigators attempted to pull over a stolen BMW in Hayward, only to have the driver spin out of control, drive in reverse up an onramp, then flip around and go by other cars in righthand lane of the freeway, authorities said.
Police stopped the chase after the risky maneuver, but a sheriff’s airplane was still keeping track of the BMW. It followed the car to a warehouse on the 800 block of 100th Avenue in Oakland, authorities said. Two weeks later, a sheriff’s team raided the location, finding several stolen trailers, a stolen gas tanker and the BMW, which had been outfitted with flashing red and blue lights.
Andrew Trujillo, 46, Natasha Simons, 28, and Juan Montiel, 34, now face criminal charges in connection with the raid. They’ve been charged in a 19-count complaint, alleging they possessed stolen vehicles and resisted arrest by refusing to surrender during the raid. Police say they had to deploy tear gas and cut through the roof of the warehouse and into an attic space to arrest the trio.
One of the suspects, Montiel, has also been charged with murder for allegedly killing 25-year-old Kody Johnston last December. That shooting arose from a dispute over a stolen vehicle that had been carjacked at the start of the month, according to police.
Police described Simons as a “career criminal” and a “prolific” car thief who has been arrested 20 times since 2020. She has been involved in two police chases in the past two years, and has four pending other pending criminal cases related to alleged auto theft, records show.
Trujillo, the suspected driver of the BMW during the Jan. 17 chase, has 10 arrests for car theft-related crimes since 2018, police said.
During the raid, deputies also found shaved keys, license plates, guns, body armor and ammunition in nearly every corner of the “heavily fortified” warehouse, police said in court records. There was ample evidence the cars were being broken down for parts, authorities say.
