Man arrested for car theft for 14th time following Santa Rosa pursuit, police say

A man with more than a dozen prior arrests for car theft is accused of stealing a vehicle from a delivery driver in Sonoma County over the weekend, police said.

Shortly after 8:50 p.m. Saturday, officers were called to a vehicle theft at 515 4th Street. The victim, a DoorDash driver, had briefly exited his vehicle with the engine running to deliver food.

Police said the vehicle was entered into its systems and was detected shortly afterwards by a license plate reader, but officers were unable to find it. Around 10 p.m., officers found the vehicle after triggering an alert.

When officers attempted to pull over the vehicle, police said the suspect led them on a pursuit.

"During the incident, the suspect drove aggressively and intentionally rammed two marked police vehicles, creating a significant danger to officers and the public," police said in a statement Sunday. "Despite the threat, officers used controlled tactics and exercised remarkable restraint as they worked to contain the suspect's vehicle."

Police said the pursuit ended safely in a neighborhood after officers blocked the suspect's escape.

The driver, identified as Sergio Villalobos-Espinoza, was taken into custody without further incident. According to police, Villalobos-Espinoza has at least 13 prior arrests for vehicle theft in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

After being medically cleared at a hospital, Villalobos-Espinoza was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of vehicle theft, felony evading, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and an enhancement for prior theft convictions.