2 Arrested After Allegedly Trying To Steal For Sale Car Parked On Street: Police

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- Santa Rosa Police arrested two suspects in an attempted auto theft Wednesday after they were confronted and chased by the vehicle's owner.

At about 7:45 a.m., police responded to a call about the attempted theft on Calistoga Road near State Highway 12.

The owner had parked the car there with a for sale sign on it and when we was driving past the area on his way to work he spotted two men trying drive off with the car loaded onto a trailer that was attached to a
truck, according to police.

The car's owner confronted the men and tried to block the suspects' truck with his vehicle.

The suspects then unhooked the trailer and allegedly intentionally rammed the owner's vehicle as they fled, police said.

The car's owner followed the men to a nearby neighborhood, where the suspects got out of the truck and fled on foot, police said.

Officers arrived and found one suspect near Melita Road and Queen Ann Drive, and eventually found the other man near Calistoga Road and Firestone Place after a resident called police about a suspicious person in
the area, according to police.

Investigators determined that the trailer the suspects were using had been reported stolen out of Contra Costa County in March.

They also learned that on the previous evening one of the men allegedly unsuccessfully tried to use AAA to tow away the car they were reportedly trying to steal.

The suspects, identified as 52-year-old Francisco Velez and 46-year-old Damon Casparian, both of Concord, were arrested on suspicion auto theft and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Both men also "have an extensive criminal history related to theft," Santa Rosa police officials said in a written statement.

Bay City News contributed to this report/Images via Santa Rosa police