3 of 5 Arrested After Walnut Creek Burglary Were Concord Residents

Three Concord residents and a 17-year-old girl are among five people arrested in Walnut Creek today after an early morning car theft. 

Heriberto Hernandez, 18, Juan Franco Perez, 35 and Mario Alberto Pena, 27 - all from Concord - and transient Isaac Melgoza Gomez, 39, are in custody on suspicion of auto theft charges and conspiracy. 

The unidentified 17-year-old girl was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and stolen property, according to a WCPD press release.

Timeline

At 5:00 a.m., a man who resides in the 1500 block of Sunnyvale Avenue near Pleasant Hill woke up to the sound of his car being started and witnessed a man - Pena - driving it away, police reported. 

When he ran outside, police said the victim came upon two subjects - Gomez and Hernandez - running from his neighbor's driveway in possession of a black backpack stolen from the neighbor's car.

The victims then lost sight of the two suspects and called police, who found Hernandez hiding nearby. Police said they also located and impounded Gomez' car nearby.

A patrol officer spotted Gomez in a car occupied by several other subjects approximately two hours later. A high-risk stop was performed without incident on Highway 24 in Lafayette, where police took Gomez, Pena, Perez and the juvenile teen into custody. 

The victim's car was found and recovered around 11:00 a.m. unoccupied in Concord.

Check back with Concord Patch and Walnut Creek Patch soon for an updated version of this story.