Serial Catalytic Converter Thieves Arrested At Mall

San Francisco police said on May 13 that officers arrested two men after investigating an auto burglary at Stonestown Mall and recovering six stolen catalytic converters from a vehicle in El Cerrito. The arrests followed a May 7 burglary report at the mall, where officers were told suspects had broken into a vehicle and stolen items, according to a San Francisco Police Department news release. Police said officers used the department’s Real Time Investigation Center and automated license plate reader alerts to track the vehicle across the Bay Area. The two suspects were booked into San Francisco County Jail on burglary, stolen-property, burglary-tools and conspiracy charges, police said. ### How did the Stonestown Mall burglary lead police to El Cerrito Plaza? Stonestown Mall was the starting point of the investigation, police said, after officers responded at about 10 a.m. on May 7 to a report that unknown suspects had been seen breaking into a vehicle and taking property. The police department said its Citywide Plainclothes team began searching for the suspect vehicle with help from the Real Time Investigation Center. (sanfranciscopolice.org) Automated license plate reader technology helped officers determine that the license plate on the vehicle had itself been reported stolen, according to the release. Police said investigators later learned the suspects had switched the vehicle’s plate, and an ALPR alert was triggered near El Cerrito. Plainclothes officers then went to El Cerrito Plaza, where they found the vehicle and detained two suspects, police said. (sanfranciscopolice.org) ### Who did police arrest, and what did they say they found? San Francisco police identified the men as Calvin Fries, 39, of Bay Point, and Wyatt Zapien, 34, of Brentwood. Officers said they developed probable cause to arrest both men after locating the vehicle in El Cerrito Plaza. A search of the vehicle turned up property stolen in the Stonestown Mall burglary, auto burglary tools and six stolen catalytic converters, according to the police release. (sanfranciscopolice.org) Police said Zapien was also booked on three out-of-county warrants. ### Why are catalytic converters part of this case? Berkeley police helped San Francisco investigators identify a possible associate of the suspect vehicle, and that inquiry linked Calvin Fries to other alleged crimes, including catalytic converter thefts, auto burglaries and fraud, the San Francisco department said. (sanfranciscopolice.org) The same investigation also tied Wyatt Zapien to two additional catalytic converter thefts and a felony evasion incident, according to police. The six converters recovered from the vehicle made the burglary case part of a broader theft investigation, based on the department’s account. Police did not say in the release where those six converters had been stolen or whether additional charges would follow in other jurisdictions. ### What charges were listed in the booking? (sanfranciscopolice.org) San Francisco County Jail booked Fries and Zapien on multiple charges, police said, including second-degree burglary under California Penal Code 459, possession of stolen property under 496(a), possession of burglary tools under 466, and conspiracy under 182(a)(1). The department said the arrests were made after officers recovered both the alleged burglary proceeds and the catalytic converters. (sanfranciscopolice.org) The police release did not list defense lawyers for either man, and court filings were not included in the department’s statement. Police also did not say in the release whether prosecutors had filed formal charges as of May 13. ### What happens next in the investigation? San Francisco police said the case remains open and active despite the arrests. (sanfranciscopolice.org) The department asked anyone with information to call 415-575-4444 or send an anonymous text tip to TIP411 beginning with “SFPD.” The case numbers listed by the department are 260-253-681, 260-030-732, 260-216-946 and 260-217-223. (sanfranciscopolice.org) Any next step in the case is likely to run through the San Francisco Police Department’s Burglary Unit and the San Francisco County court process, based on the charges listed in the release.