OXNARD : Police Arrest 3 Men in Car Theft Cases

Oxnard police arrested three men suspected in a string of auto thefts after they allegedly stole a man’s car at knifepoint late Saturday night.

Police said Sergio Ornelas Guido, 20, of Oxnard was cleaning out his 1977 Pontiac Trans Am in the empty parking lot of a self-serve carwash at the corner of Robert Avenue and A Street about 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

Three Los Angeles County men, riding in an allegedly stolen 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass, circled him several times and parked alongside, police said.

One man put a hunting knife to Guido’s throat, telling him that they were going to steal his car, while another pretended to have a gun in his waistband, said Ken Klopman, a police spokesman.

The three abandoned the Cutlass and drove away in Guido’s car, which was found burned out in San Luis Obispo County at 2:30 a.m., Klopman said.

An hour later, Paso Robles police answered a report of a car theft in progress.

Officers stopped the three men as they drove away in another allegedly stolen car and arrested them.

They found some of Guido’s possessions in the car with the men, Klopman said.

The Cutlass was reported stolen Wednesday from a Reseda couple, he said.

Police arrested Jose DeJesus Torres Gasca, 21, of San Fernando, Manuel Antonio Rivera, 23, of Los Angeles and Alberto Aldan Mayorga, 37, of Reseda.

The three were held on suspicion of armed robbery and auto theft.