Three suspects, only one of them legally old enough to drive, were arrested early Wednesday for stealing brand new vehicles from a Nissan dealership in Richmond before leading police on two separate pursuits, one of which ended in San Francisco, police said.
Richmond police shared video footage from the heist at the Hanless Hilltop Nissan, which resulted in the arrests of suspects ages 17, 15 and 14, police said.
The incident unfolded at 1:13 a.m when police were dispatched to suspicious circumstances in the sales lot of the car dealership, where four suspects were attempting to steal new vehicles.
Responding officers arrived on the scene and saw four brand new Hyundai vehicles being driven to the rear of the business.
“As officers approached from the front of the business, one of the suspects decided to drive one of the new stolen vehicles into a parked new vehicle [as shown in the video],” police said. “This parked vehicle was being used to block the access road in attempts to prevent vehicles from being stolen. After colliding into this parked vehicle, this suspect got into another stolen vehicle and the 3 brand new stolen vehicles were seen exiting the business at a high rate of speed.”
Richmond police were in the area, and one of the suspects attempted to collide into an officer’s vehicle, but the officer was able to maneuver the vehicle to prevent a collision, police said.
All four stolen vehicles fled the scene, with RPD officers pursuing the vehicle that attempted to collide with their officer. This vehicle fled for a short distance, but ultimately pulled over and the driver, age 15, was arrested, police said.
A second stolen vehicle was located unoccupied in the city of San Pablo. And the final stolen vehicle was pursued by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office and CHP to the city of San Francisco, where it was ultimately pulled over. Two occupants, ages 14 and 17, were arrested.
“The juveniles were arrested on multiple felonies,” police said. “It was later discovered by RPD detectives, these juveniles actually broke into the Hyundai dealership and stole keys to all vehicles.”
