San Pablo, CA - Police Car Stolen From Contra Costa CC Headquarters - Suspects Covered Police Car With Blanket To Hide It - Stole AR - 15 Rifle

Stolen police car recovered
 Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, June 21, 2009

Two suspects were arrested Saturday in San Pablo connection with the theft of a community-college police car containing an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the latest incident in which Bay Area police vehicles have been broken into or stolen, authorities said.

At about 3:05 a.m. Saturday, sheriff's dispatchers received calls of people removing items from a police car that was covered with a blanket and parked in front of a home on the 2900 block of Chevy Way in unincorporated San Pablo, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.

Deputies arrived and realized that the Ford Crown Victoria belonged to the Contra Costa Community College District police, which patrols Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and Los Medanos College in Pittsburg. An AR-15 rifle was missing from the car, Lee said.

Deputies obtained a search warrant and found the weapon in a detached garage on the property and recovered other police equipment. They arrested Denise Rohrbach, 24, who lives at the home, and Satnum Singh, 30, on suspicion of possession of stolen property. Rohrbach was also being held on a probation violation.

The car had been stolen from police headquarters at Contra Costa College, said district spokesman Tim Leong.

Law-enforcement officials have been victimized in other incidents in recent months.

In May, someone stole a Mountain View police car from the Shoreline Amphitheater after an officer left it with the keys inside. It was found the next day at an apartment parking garage.

This month, federal prosecutors filed charges against three men in connection with the theft of AR-15 rifles and shotguns stolen from Contra Costa sheriff's and California Highway Patrol cruisers in December and January.
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